Effect of Ni-substitution on glass forming ability, mechanical, and magnetic properties of FeBNbY bulk metallic glasses

We present a method to identify bulk glass forming ability by partial substitution of Fe by Ni in FeBNbY based amorphous alloy ribbons and as a consequence obtain enhanced mechanical and soft magnetic properties of bulk glassy rods of diameter as large as 4.5 mm. A detailed investigation of thermal, mechanical, and magnetic properties of (Fe0.72−x NixB0.24Nb0.04)95.5Y4.5 alloys (with x ∼ 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.1) was carried out. The supercooled regime (ΔTx) and other glass forming parameters, e.g., reduced glass transition temperature (Trg), the gamma (γ) parameter, etc., were found to be enhanced due to the Ni substitution resulting in improvement of glass forming ability (GFA). The maximum values of such parameters (ΔTx ∼ 94 K, Trg ∼ 0.644, and γ ∼ 0.435) were obtained for the alloy with x ∼ 0.06, making it possible to cast cylindrical rods with 4.5 mm diameter for this composition. Nanoindentation studies on glassy rods also point out that (Fe0.66Ni0.06B0.24Nb0.04)95.5Y4.5 alloy exhibit the maximum value of hardness (H ∼ 12 GPa) as well as elastic modulus (E ∼ 193 GPa) among all of these samples. In addition to these, that particular sample shows the lowest room temperature coercivity (Hc ∼ 210 mOe). By annealing at 823 K, Hc can be further reduced to 60 mOe due to its structural relaxation. We attribute the improved soft magnetic and mechanical properties of as-quenched (Fe0.66Ni0.06B0.24Nb0.04)95.5Y4.5 alloy to higher packing density attained due to its large glass forming ability.