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Comparative study of nanoindentation on melt-spun ribbon and bulk metallic glass with Ni60Nb37B3 composition

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Abstract

This paper describes the mechanical properties under nanoindentation of a new glassy alloy with a nominal composition of Ni60Nb37B3, in the form of melt-spun ribbons and 1-mm-thick copper mold-cast sheets. The alloy composition was designed based on the synergy between the topological instability criterion and the difference in electronegativity among the elements. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses confirmed that both ribbon and sheet samples possess totally amorphous structures with relatively high thermal stability (supercooled liquid region of about 60 K), as evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Nanoindentation tests revealed that the hardness of this alloy, about 15 GPa, is among the highest reported for metallic glasses. The elastic modulus of the cast sheet is higher and its hardness is similar to that of the ribbon. This correlates well with the different amounts of frozen-in free volume in both types of samples detected by DSC.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by CNPq and FAPESP (Brazil) and the MAT2011-27380-C02-01 Project of MINECO (Spain). MDB acknowledges partial financial support from an ICREA-Academia Award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Engineering Department, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

    Luis César Rodríguez Aliaga, Claudio Shyinti Kiminami, Claudemiro Bolfarini & Walter José Botta

  2. Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Jordina Fornell Beringues, Santiago Suriñach & Maria Dolores Baró

  3. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats and Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Jordi Sort Viñas

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  1. Luis César Rodríguez Aliaga
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  2. Jordina Fornell Beringues
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Correspondence to Luis César Rodríguez Aliaga.

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Aliaga, L.C.R., Beringues, J.F., Suriñach, S. et al. Comparative study of nanoindentation on melt-spun ribbon and bulk metallic glass with Ni60Nb37B3 composition. Journal of Materials Research 28, 2740–2746 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2013.260

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