Glass formation and non-isothermal crystallization of Zr62.5Al12.1Cu7.95Ni17.45 bulk metallic glass

Glass forming ability (GFA) and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of Zr62.5Al12.1Cu7.95Ni17.45 bulk metallic glass were investigated. Its critical dimension is up to 7.5 mm and its critical cooling rate is less than 40 K s(-1), indicating its better GFA. It manifests two crystallization procedures and the second crystallization peak is more sensitive to heating rate than the first crystallization peak. The glass transition and crystallization both have remarkable kinetics effects. The apparent activation energies derived from the Kissinger plots are 175.24 +/- 27.59 KJ mol(-1) for glass transition E-g, 212.84 +/- 15.84 KJ mol(-1) for onset crystallization E., 230.51 +/- 23.85 KJ mol(-1) for the first crystallization peak E-p1 and 124.85 +/- 15.15 KJ mol(-1) for the second crystallization peak E-p2. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.