Critical cooling rate and thermal stability of Zr-Ti-Cu-Ni-Be alloys

The critical cooling rate as well as the thermal stability are measured for a series of alloys in the Zr-Ti-Cu-Ni-Be system. Upon cooling from the molten state with different rates, alloys with compositions ranging along a tie line from (Zr70Ti30)(55)(Ni39Cu61)(25)Be-20 to (Zr85Ti15)(55)(Ni57Cu43)(22.5)Be-27.5 show a continuous increase in the critical cooling rate to suppress crystallization. In contrast, thermal analysis of the same alloys shows that the undercooled liquid region, the temperature difference between the glass transition temperature and the crystallization temperature, is largest for some compositions midway between the two endpoints, revealing that glass forming ability does not correlate with thermal stability. The relationship between the composition-dependent glass forming ability and thermal stability is discussed with reference to a chemical decomposition process. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.