Novel Heating-Induced Reversion during Crystallization of Al-based Glassy Alloys

Thermal stability and crystallization of three multicomponent glassy alloys, Al 86 Y 7 Ni 5 Co 1 Fe 0.5 Pd 0.5 , Al 85 Y 8 Ni 5 Co 1 Fe 0.5 Pd 0.5 and Al 84 Y 9 Ni 4 Co 1.5 Fe 0.5 Pd 1 , were examined to assess the ability to form the mixture of amorphous (am) and fcc-aluminum (α-Al) phases. On heating, the glass transition into the supercooled liquid is shown by the 85Al and 84Al glasses. The crystallization sequences are [am] → [am + α-Al] → [α-Al + compounds] for the 86Al and 85Al alloys, and [am] → [am + α-Al + cubic Al x M y (M = Y, Ni, Co, Fe, Pd)] → [am + α-Al] → [α-Al + Al 3 Y + Al 9 (Co, Ni) 2 + unknown phase] for the 84Al alloy. The glass transition appears even for the 85Al alloy where the primary phase is α-Al. The heating-induced reversion from [am + α-Al + multicomponent Al x M y ] to [am + α-Al] for the 84Al alloy is abnormal, not previously observed in crystallization of glassy alloys, and seems to originate from instability of the metastable Al x M y compound, in which significant inhomogeneous strain is caused by the mixture of solute elements. This novel reversion phenomenon is encouraging for obtaining the [am + α-Al] mixture over a wide range of high temperature effective for the formation of Al-based high-strength nanostructured bulk alloys by warm working.