Bulk glassy Zr-based alloys prepared by consolidation of glassy alloy powders in supercooled liquid region

We report the effects of extrusion conditions such as the powder handling processing, extrusion ratio and extrusion temperature on the tensile strength of glassy alloy compacts consolidated by warm extrusion in a supercooled liquid state. The alloy used was a Zr65Al10Ni10Cu15 (at.%) glassy alloy which has a significant supercooled liquid region of 105 E;. The glassy powder compacts were produced through the extrusion in the supercooled liquid state at extrusion ratios above four by means of ordinary powder metallurgy processing and exhibit nearly the same tensile strength as that for the melt-spun glassy ribbons and the as-cast glassy bulks. The closed processing, in which the powder was handled in a well-controlled atmosphere without being exposed to air, moreover, led to a higher level of strength due to improvement in the powder particle bonding state as compared with ordinary processing and the tensile strength at extrusion ratios above three reached 1520 MPa. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.