A criterion for the glass-forming ability of binary bulk metallic glasses

Abstract We proposed a parameter ϕ = (Δ H m c − R Δ T e mix )/Δ H m c as a criterion for glass-forming ability (GFA) of binary alloys near eutectic composition using the thermodynamic data of the equilibrium phase diagram by considering the relative thermodynamic stability of the liquid phase. The larger φ is, the larger GFA is in different binary alloy systems. A linear fit of R c = 7.73 × 10 23 exp(− 65.26 φ ) is obtained, where R c denotes the critical cooling rate to form glass from liquid. Since φ is determined directly from thermodynamic data of elements and well known equilibrium phase diagram, GFA of binary alloys can be easily estimated without any thermal measurement after fabrication of BMGs.