Kinetics and crystallization path of a Fe-based metallic glass alloy.

The thermal stability and the quantification of the different transformation processes involved in the overall crystallization of the Fe 50 Cr 15 Mo 14 C 15 B 6 amorphous alloy were investigated by several characterization techniques. Formation of various metastable and stable phases during the devitrification process in the sequence α-Fe, χ-Cr 6 Fe 18 Mo 5 , M 23 (C,B) 6 , M 7 C 3 , η-Fe 3 Mo 3 C and FeMo 2 B 2 (with M = Fe, Cr, Mo), was observed by in-situ synchrotron high energy X-ray diffraction and in-situ transmission electron microscopy. By combining these techniques with differential scanning calorimetry data, the crystallization states and their temperature range of stability under continuous heating were related with the evolution of the crystallized fraction and the phase sequence as a function of temperature, revealing structural and chemical details of the different transformation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]