THE INFLUENCE OF COPPER, NIOBIUM AND TANTALUM ADDITIONS ON THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF FE-SI-B-BASED GLASSES

The influence of alloying elements (copper, niobium and tantalum) on the crystallization process of Fe-Si-B-based amorphous alloys and their structure after the first stage of crystallization was studied. The suitability of continuous heating for the creation of nanocrystalline materials was examined. The crystallization process was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that controlled crystallization of metallic glasses using continuous heating (10 K min-1) only enables the formation of a nanocrystalline structure in alloys with specific composition, e.g. in Fe-Si-B alloys containing at least two alloying elements: copper and niobium or copper and tantalum. The continuous heating combined with knowledge of the thermal properties of the glass makes possible the precise fabrication of a nanocrystalline microstructure (different grain size and volume fraction of crystalline phase) by controlled partial crystallization of the appropriate alloy.