Zirconium bulk glassy alloys

Zirconium-based alloys were among the first non-noble metal-based alloys found to solidify in the amorphous state upon cooling from the melt at corrparatively low rates R, such as 10 Ks [1.69,70]. The term bulk glassy alloys refers to the fact that this solidification behavior permits us to obtain bulky parts with an amorphous structure by conventional casting procedures, e.g., in rod form, up to 30 mm. Data are given in [1.71,72]. 

More recently magnesium-base, iron-base, and zirconium-titanium-base alloys have been developed that do not require such rapid cooling. In 1992, W. L. Johnson and co-workers developed the first commercial alloy available in bulk form Vitreloy 1, which contains 41.2 a/o Zr, 13.8 a/o Ti, 12.5 a/o Cu, 10 a/o Ni, and 22.5 a/o Be. The critical cooling rate for this alloy is about 1 K/s so glassy parts can be made with dimensions of several centimeters. Its properties are given in Table 15.3. 

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