DENSITY AND ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY OF [Al.sub.86][Ni.sub.6]C[O.sub.2][R.sub.6] ALLOYS IN SOLID AND LIQUID STATES

Aluminum-containing amorphous and nano-crystalline alloys, especially compositions with transition and rare-earth metals, are being intensively investigated over the last years due to their high service properties. This paper studies thermophysical properties (density and electrical resistivity) of [Al.sub.86][Ni.sub.6][Co.sub.2][R.sub.6] (R = Nd, Gd, Yb) glass-forming compositions in a wide temperature range, including the liquid state. It is found that the behavior of crystalline alloys is typical for aluminum compositions, namely: the linear decrease in density and the growth in electrical resistivity with increasing temperature. It is shown that these compositions are characterized by a wide two-phase region, whereas a transition to the liquid state at the liquidus temperature is accompanied by an abnormal density growth and electrical resistivity reduction. For the first time, it is found that the melt overheating up to 1350 K leads to the density hysteresis, which probably indicates to the fracture of large-scale inhomogeneity in melts. Keywords: density, electrical resistivity, melt, aluminum, rare-earth metals.