Effect of adding elements on glass-forming ability of (Cu47Ti34Zr11Ni8)99M (M = Al, Be, Si, Nb, Fe and Co) bulk amorphous alloys

Abstract Bulk amorphous alloys (Cu 47 Ti 34 Zr 11 Ni 8 ) 99 M (M = Al, Be, Si, Nb, Fe and Co) were prepared by arc melting and suction casting. The effect of the addition of alloying elements on the glass-forming ability and thermal stability of Cu 47 Ti 34 Zr 11 Ni 8 was studied. With the addition of Si, the glass-forming ability of the Cu 47 Ti 34 Zr 11 Ni 8 alloy is improved, which is evidenced by the increase of supercooled liquid region Δ T x , the reduced glass transition temperature T rg , γ parameter, K H stability parameter. With the addition of Al, Be, Co, Fe and Nb, the glass-forming ability of the alloys is decreased. Calculation of the formation enthalpies of amorphous alloys by using Miedema’s theory, show that the glass-forming ability of the (Cu 47 Ti 34 Zr 11 Ni 8 ) 99 M decreases with increasing formation enthalpy of the amorphous phase except in the case of Cu 47 Ti 34 Zr 11 Ni 8 . The glass transition activation energy linearly increases with increasing atom size parameter δ .