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Improving glass-forming ability of Mg−Cu−Y via substitutional alloying: Effects of Ag versus Ni

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Abstract

Based on the best bulk metallic glass (BMG) forming alloy in the Mg−Cu−Y ternary system, we introduced Ag (or Ni) to partially substitute for Cu to improve the glass-forming ability (GFA). The objective of this paper is twofold. First, we illustrate in detail a recently developed search strategy, which was proposed but only briefly outlined in our previous publication [H. Ma, L.L. Shi, J. Xu, Y. Li, and E. Ma: Discovering inch-diameter metallic glasses in three-dimensional composition space. Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 181915 (2005)]. The protocol to navigate in three-dimensional composition space to land large BMGs is spelled out step-by-step using the pseudo-ternary Mg−(Cu,Ag)−Y as the model system. Second, our ability to locate the best BMG former in the composition tetrahedron allows us to systematically examine, and conclude on, the effects of a given alloying element. The large improvement in glass-forming ability in the Mg−(Cu,Ag)−Y system relative to the based ternary will be contrasted with the reduced glass-forming ability in the Mg−(Cu,Ni)−Y pseudo ternary system. It is demonstrated that the improvement of glass-forming ability requires judicious choice of substitutional alloying elements and concentrations, rather than simple additions of multiple elements assuming the “confusion principle.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Han Ma, Ling-Ling Shi & Jian Xu

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117675, Singapore

    Yi Li

  3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, USA

    En Ma

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  1. Han Ma
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  2. Ling-Ling Shi
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  3. Jian Xu
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  4. Yi Li
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  5. En Ma
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Correspondence to Jian Xu.

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Ma, H., Shi, LL., Xu, J. et al. Improving glass-forming ability of Mg−Cu−Y via substitutional alloying: Effects of Ag versus Ni. Journal of Materials Research 21, 2204–2214 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2006.0294

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2006.0294

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