Abstract:The effect of partial substitute of Ti for Ni in bulk metallic glass Zr₆₀Cu₂₀Ni_10-xAl₁₀Ti_x(x=1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is studied. The results show that the width of the supercooled liquid region ΔT_x is enlarged when a small amount (1%-2%) of Ni is replaced by Ti , but minimized when the replacing amount is over 2%, due to the emergence of exothermic peaks at temperature lower than the previous T_x in DSC curves. Meanwhile, the reduced transition temperature T_rg increases with increasing amount of Ti from 1% to 5% in the alloys. The relative glass forming ability shown by wedge-shaped samples of different Ti contents reveals the same trend with that of T_rg. Therefore, it is implied from the above results that a large ΔT_x (or a high thermal stability of supercooled liquid ) is not necessarily connected with a high glass forming ability.

Key words: bulk metallic glass; supercooled liquid; glass forming ability; wedge-shaped sample