Synthesis and properties of bulk metallic glasses in the ternary Ni-Nb-Zr alloy system

Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with high thermal stability, good mechanical properties and high corrosion resistance were synthesized in the Ni-Nb-Zr system. A large bulk glass-forming region with 60 < Ni < 64, 28 < Nb < 38 and 0 < Zr < 9 (in at.%) was found. The critical size for the glass formation is 3 mm. These investigated Ni-based BMGs process high glass transition temperature of about 880-900 K and high onset crystallization temperature of 915-932 K as well as high compressive fracture strength of approximate 3.0-3.2 GPa along with some compressive plasticity of about 2%. Electrochemical measurements indicate they also exhibit high corrosion resistance, i.e., large passive region above 1.5 V (vs. Saturated calomel reference electrode, SCE). The influence of the Zr content on the glass-forming ability (GFA) and corrosion behaviors was carefully studied, indicating that some Zr addition improves the GFA and corrosion resistance. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.