Compositional Dependence of Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Quaternary Zr-Cu-Ni-Al Bulk Glassy Alloys

Abstract

To determine the optimized composition of quaternary Zr-Cu-Ni-Al bulk glassy alloy, its thermal and mechanical properties are examined. Zr shows high correlation coefficients with T_g and Vickers hardness, whereas Ni and Al show high correlation coefficients with T_l and T_x, respectively. Only Cu shows no remarkable correlation coefficient with any thermal or mechanical properties. We conclude that a compositional region with a high (over 135 kJ/m²) U-notch Charpy impact (CUE) value is located around the Zr₅₂Cu₃₀Ni₈Al₁₀ bulk glassy alloy, which exhibits a maximum CUE of 165 kJ/m². Moreover, a compositional region with high tensile strength (over 2000 MPa) is also located around the Zr₄₈Cu₃₂Ni₈Al₁₂ bulk glassy alloy, which shows a maximum tensile strength of 2100 MPa.