Study on glass formation and crystallization of Zr54.5Cu20Al10Ni8Ti75 alloy

The microstructure of Zr54.5Cu20Al10Ni8Ti75 alloy has been examined after solidification involving three different techniques viz., copper mould casting, suction casting and melt spinning. The bulk glass microstructure of the alloy obtained through copper mould casting was found to comprise of big cube Zr2Ni phase in a dendritic morphology and tetragonal Zr2Ni phase in a faulted morphology besides the amorphous phase. High-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) was carried out to examine the internal structure and interface structure of the phases. The dendritic phase was found to consist of primary and secondary dendrite arms with faceted as well rounded interfaces with the amorphous phase. Ledges were noticed at either of the interfaces with higher density at the rounded interfaces. The presence of the faulted phase was noticed in between dendritic arms. The faulted phase was found to consist of different domains corresponding to different orientations. A variety of interfaces could be noticed between these individual domains and also within a single domain itself. At least three different kinds of faulted region were identified to coexist in a single domain. The melt spun ribbon and bulk glass made through suction casting was found to be fully amorphous. The amorphous phase obtained from the three different techniques showed different degrees of medium range order as revealed by the fluctuation microscopy technique. Crystallization behavior of as solidified structures has been examined by comparing the crystallization kinetics and microstructure. Crystallization led to the transformation of the amorphous phase to nanocrystals in all the cases. The crystallization event was found to be singular in the case of copper mold cast bulk glass and multiple in the case of suction cast bulk glass and ribbon. The phase forming on crystallization was found to be the same faulted tetragonal Zr2Ni that was encountered during solidification. Multiple domains, dislocations like defects that were present in the as-solidified faulted crystals were absent in the nanocrystals. The solidification and crystallization behaviors of the alloy have been rationalized on the basis of cooling rate and oxygen pick up involved in the three different synthesis routes. (author)