Effect of the Addition of Large Atomic Size Elements on the Glass Formation of Al-Ca-Ni Amorphous Alloys

Effects of different large atomic radius elements (i.e., Na, Eu and Sr) on the glass forming ability (GFA) of Al-Ca-Ni alloy system were systematically investigated. The three doping elements are similar to each other, such as large atomic radius, low melting point and low Pauling's electronegativity. Our results confirmed that addition of 1 at.% Eu and Sr can enhance the crystallization resistance and stabilize the liquid stability, leading to the increment of the GFA. On the contrary, although the addition of Na to the base alloy could lowers the crystallization temperature, but effectively suppresses the competing α-Al crystalline phase and enhance the GFA. Moreover, with the increase of atomic radius of doping elements, the critical thickness for glass formation is gradually increased from 290 to 410μm. Therefore, it seemed that their atomic size played a more important role in improving the GFA of Al-Ca-Ni alloy.