Mg–Ni–(Gd,Nd) bulk metallic glasses with improved glass-forming ability and mechanical properties

In this work, we report a new Mg-based glass-forming system of Mg–Ni–(Gd,Nd), which can be produced into glassy rods with maximum diameters of 2–5 mm by copper mold casting. The Mg₇₅Ni₁₅Gd_10–xNd_x(x = 0–10) BMGs simultaneously possess a high level of glass transition temperatures, high specific strength up to 2.75 × 10⁵ Nm/kg, and enhanced malleability with plastic strains over 1%. In particular, the Mg₇₅Ni₁₅Gd₅Nd₅ BMG with the glass-forming ability (GFA) up to 5 mm, exhibited compressive yield strength over 900 MPa and plastic strain up to 50% without failure for the specimen with an aspect ratio of 0.5. The improved GFA and malleability for the Mg₇₅Ni₁₅Gd_10–x Nd_x(x = 0–10) BMGs were discussed, which exhibited their promising potentials for the application as lightweight engineering materials.