On the amorphous-to-quasicrystalline phase transformation in ball-milled and melt-spun Zr58.5Ti8.2Cu14.2Ni11.4Al7.7 glassy alloys

Abstract The influence of the preparation technique on quasicrystal formation was investigated by comparing the devitrification of Zr58.5Ti8.2Cu14.2Ni11.4Al7.7 metallic glass produced by ball milling of crystalline intermetallic compounds with its corresponding rapidly quenched counterpart produced by melt spinning. Differently from the as-spun ribbon, which is fully amorphous, the as-milled powder displays the presence of a minor amount of a crystalline phase along with the glassy phase. However, the crystallization behavior of both the powder and the ribbon is characterized by the formation of a nanoscale quasicrystalline phase upon partial devitrification, demonstrating that quasicrystal-forming Zr-based alloys can also be produced by solid-state reaction. A possible explanation for the lack of quasicrystal formation reported in other ball-milled Zr-based alloys is proposed, suggesting that the formation of quasicrystals in ball-milled powders may be suppressed by the contamination of the starting material.