Formation of ductile Al-based metallic glasses without rare-earth elements

Al75Cu17Mg8 is a eutectic composition according to the ternary phase diagram, which can be quenched into a fully amorphous phase by adding 2-8 at.% Ni, but the addition of a similar percentage of Gd failed to form the amorphous phase. The amorphous alloys obtained exhibit two broad diffuse peaks in the X-ray diffraction curves and, correspondingly, two halo rings in the electron diffraction patterns, implying that two types of local atom configuration exist. Thermal analysis of the amorphous alloys indicates that the primary crystallization peak shifts to higher temperatures with increasing Ni content. The occurrence of a nucleation and crystal growth peak during isothermal crystallization reveals the amorphous nature of the quenched ribbon alloys. The quenched amorphous ribbons do not break after bending by 180 degrees. Mechanical testing yielded a tensile strength of 810 MPa for (Al75Cu17Mg8)(95)Ni-5, and a vein structure, characteristic of amorphous fracture, is apparent in scanning electron micrographs. The different effects of Ni and Gd on the glass formation indicate that the large atomic size of Gd is not critical to the glass formation.