Bulk Metallic Glass-Forming Region of Four Multicomponent Alloy Systems

Abstract

We have evaluated the predictive ability of a simple method combing the efficient cluster packing model of metallic glasses proposed by Miracle, chemical mixing enthalpy and the normalized configurational entropy S_config⁄R in rapidly locating the bulk metallic glass (BMG)-forming composition region, in four multicomponent alloy systems. It is shown that the BMG-forming regions are similar in the topologically and chemically equivalent La-Al-Co and Ce-Al-Co alloy systems. However, in the topologically equivalent Zr-Ti-Cu-Ni and Zr-Ti-Al-Cu-Ni alloy systems, the BMG-forming regions are quite different due to the difference in chemical bonding between constituents. BMG formation is most probably a compromise between topological and chemical effects. This method could be a new approach to rapidly locate BMG-forming composition region in multicomponent alloy systems, in which eutectic compositions are difficult to be measured in experiments.