Formation and Stability of Aluminum-Based Metallic Glasses in Al-Fe-Gd Alloys

摘要

Metallic glasses, a class of amorphous alloys made by rapid solidification, have been studied quite extensively for almost thirty years. It has been recognized for a long time that metallic glasses are usually very strong and ductile, and exhibit high corrosion resistance relative to crystalline alloys with the same compositions. Recently, metallic glasses containing as much as 90 atomic percent aluminum have been discovered independently by two groups. This discovery has both scientific and technological implications. The formability of these new glasses has been found to be unusual. Studies of mechanical properties in these new metallic glasses show that many of them have tensile strengths over 800MPa, greatly exceeding the strongest commercial aluminum alloys. The high strengths of aluminum-rich metallic glasses can be of significant importance in obtaining high strength low density materials. Therefore, from both scientific and technological standpoints, it is important to understand the formation and thermal stability of these metallic glasses. Al-Fe-Gd alloys were chosen for a more detailed study since they exhibit high tensile strengths. Reprints. (JES)