Designing primary phase-embedded Cu-based bulk metallic glass composites: a computational thermodynamic approach

Abstract

In this paper, a computational thermodynamic approach was used to design the compositions of bulk metallic glass composites. This approach indicates that both the liquidus temperature and the solidification temperature range of the primary phase of a Cu–Zr–Ti–Si alloy system increase with the addition of silicon. With the aid of the calculation, the crystal-embedded Cu-based bulk metallic glass composites have been fabricated successfully. The as-cast composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The characterizations demonstrate that the increase of in the liquidus temperature and the extension of the primary phase region facilitate the formation of primary phase-embedded composite structures. This work suggests that the computational thermodynamics approach can be serve as a potential tool to construct bulk metallic glass composites, especially to fabricate the primary phases-embedded bulk metallic glass composites. The findings of this work can be utilized to understand the formation of composite structures of bulk metallic glass composites.