An extended criterion for estimation of glass-forming ability of metals

If a metal contracts upon solidification, the specific volume of a metallic liquid phase must not be smaller than that of the corresponding crystal. As molten metals have higher thermal expansion coefficients compared with those of the corresponding crystals, the intersection point of two specific-volume–temperature plots of the liquid and the corresponding solid crystalline phase by analogy with Kauzmann’s paradox for entropy could be treated as an ideal glass-transition temperature. This paper describes this phenomenon observed for a number of pure metals and gives a semiempirical criterion for the achievement of a good glass-forming ability.