Synthesis of ferromagnetic Fe-based bulk glassy alloys in the Fe–Nb–B–Y system

The effect of substitution of Y for Fe on the glass forming ability (GFA), magnetic and mechanical property has been studied in Fe 77 − x Nb 6B 17Y x ( x = 0–4) alloys. Replacement of 1–4 at.% Fe by Y increased the thermal stability of the glass and liquid phase in the Fe–Nb–B–Y alloys. It was found that the Fe 74Nb 6B 17Y 3 alloy exhibited the largest T rg (0.60) and γ (= T x /[ T g + T L]) (0.396) values enabling the fabrication of bulk metallic glass (BMG) with a diameter of up to 2 mm. The BMG alloy (≥74 at.% Fe) exhibited high compressive fracture strength and hardness of about 3 GPa and 1060 Hv, respectively. The partial replacement of 3 at.% Fe by Y in Fe–Nb–Y–B improved the alloy magnetization saturation by about 10%.