Influence of B, Al and Nb addition on the glass forming ability and stability of mechanically alloyed Zr-Ni amorphous alloys.

We investigated the influence of minor additions of B, Al and Nb that have representative atomic sizes on the glass forming ability (GFA) and stability of Zr-Ni amorphous alloys during mechanical alloying. The results show that the minor addition of B, Al or Nb does not shorten the initial time of the full amorphization reaction or improve the glass forming ability of the Zr-Ni alloys at a low rotation speed. However, B addition can effectively improve the mechanical stability of the amorphous phase against mechanically induced crystallization. Furthermore, the amorphous phase gradually transforms into a metastable fcc-phase with increasing milling time. The addition of Al and Nb that have similar atomic sizes has a similar effect on the GFA and the mechanical stability of the Zr-Ni amorphous phase. Moreover, Al and Nb addition can alter the crystallization behavior and improve the thermal stability of the Zr-Ni amorphous phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]