On the impact of global interactions on the structure of metallic glasses.

Abstract The influence of global interactions between the static atomic structure and the valence electrons on structure formation in binary Al-(Ni,Cu,Zr), Zr-(Ni,Cu) and ternary Al-(Ni,Cu)-Zr metallic glasses is investigated over wide concentration ranges and discussed in terms of a Hume-Rothery-like theory by analysing and comparing data available in the literature. The results suggest that global interactions lead to an improvement of thermal stability and glass-forming ability. A complete understanding of structure formation in the considered alloys is assumed to be possible only by taking into account both local and global effects. • The effect of global interactions on thermal stability and glass-forming ability in Al-(Ni,Cu)-Zr metallic glasses is analysed. • A Hume-Rothery-like effect according to a mean valence of 1.5 electrons per atom plays a major role. • Local and global effects mutually support each other to yield the energetically most favorable structure. • Correlations with other properties are pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]