A kinetic transition from peritectic crystallization to amorphous solidification of rapidly quenched refractory Nb-Ni alloy

In this study, the kinetic transition of solidification modes for refractory peritectic Nb ₅₄Ni ₄₆ alloy was revealed using melting spinning experiments combined with molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and classical nucleation theory. This begins with a shift from the usual peritectic solidification to the direct precipitation of the peritectic Nb ₇Ni ₆ phase when the roller speed reaches 10 m/s. Once the roller speed exceeds 20 m/s, the nucleation of the Nb ₇Ni ₆ phase is suppressed and the amorphous phase forms. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images indicate that the stacking fault and twining model of the peritectic Nb ₇Ni ₆ phase are {10 1 ¯ 2}/< 1 ¯ 011> with a misorientation angle of 35.65°. The results of an individual local crystallization zone in amorphous matrix imply that the chemically disordered crystalline structure is more likely to form during the early stages of nucleation and growth, whereas the chemically ordered crystalline structure may evolve during the growth of the complex intermetallic compound Nb ₇Ni ₆ phase. Furthermore, the MD simulation of the glass transition temperature agrees well with the experiment, and the Voronoi polyhedron analysis suggests that the Ni-centered 〈0,0,12,0〉, 〈0,2,8,2〉 as well as Nb-centered 〈0,1,10,4〉 icosahedron-like clusters and their medium-range ordered structures play an important role in the formation of amorphous Nb ₅₄Ni ₄₆ alloy. In addition, the predictions made using classical nucleation theory and the time-temperature-transformation diagram propose that the phase selection rules are consistent with the experimental results as the undercooling and cooling rate increase, with the critical cooling rate for the formation of amorphous phase determined to be 1.71 × 10 ⁷ K/s.