Glass Forming Ability of Ca-Based Bulk Metallic Glasses

Knowledge of glass forming ability (GFA) of amorphous metallic alloys is very important from both theoretical and practical point of view. Thermodynamically, the Gibbs free energy difference, ΔG between the undercooled liquid and the corresponding crystalline state is driving force for crystallization. As a consequence, it is a good indicator for glass forming ability of metallic glasses. A novel expression for ΔG has been used to estimate the GFA of recently developed Ca-based bulk metallic glasses viz. Ca53Mg23Cu24,Ca65Mg15Cu20,Ca40Mg25Cu35, Ca50Mg22.5Cu27.5 and Ca55Mg15Cu30. Different GFA criteria are also evaluated for systems taken up in the study and effect of addition of variation in composition of Ca-Mg-Cu system is also investigated. Present work suggests that among different GFA criteria, ΔG is the best criterion for the prediction of GFA for Ca-based bulk metallic glasses.