Glass-forming Mg-Cu-RE (RE = Gd, Pr, Nd, Tb, Y, and Dy) alloys with strong oxygen resistance in manufacturability

One of the unsolved problems for the manufacturability and the applications of bulk metallic glasses is that their glass-forming ability is very sensitive to the preparation vacuum and impurity of components because oxygen in the environments would markedly deteriorate the glass-forming ability. Here we report that the addition of rare earth elements can significantly improve the glass-forming ability and manufacturability of Mg-based alloys. The Mg-based glass-forming alloys can withstand very low vacuum in preparation process. The beneficial effects of the Gd addition on the glass-forming ability and oxygen resistance during the Mg-based glass formation are explored. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.