The influence of cooling rate on the formation of an amorphous phase in Si-based multicomponent alloys and its thermal stability

Abstract

By adding Ni, Cr, and Zr to the Si–Al–Fe system and using a higher surface velocity of the copper wheel of 63 m/s, the composition range of an amorphous single phase was extended to 60 at% Si. An amorphous Si 60Al 18Fe 12Ni 4Cr 3Zr 3 alloy was produced. The amorphous phase in the Si–Al–TM (TM = transition metals) alloys shows higher thermal stability than in the Al–Si–TM alloys. By the shift of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) peaks with change of heating rate, the activation energy for the transformation was determined to be 343 kJ/mol for Si 55Al 20Fe 10Ni 5Cr 5Zr 5 alloy and 374 kJ/mol for Si 50Al 25Fe 10Ni 5Cr 5Zr 5 alloy.