EFFECT OF COOLING RATE ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF NEW MULTICOMPONENT Fe-BASED AMORPHOUS ALLOY DURING ANNEALING PROCESS

Fe-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) have been extensively investigated due to their ultrahigh strength and elastic moduli as well as desire magnetic properties. However, these BMGs have few applications in industrial productions because of their brittleness at room temperature. This study is focused on the effect of cooling rate on the mechanical properties (especially toughness) in the Fe41Co7Cr15Mo14Y2C15B6 BMG. For this aim, two samples with the mentioned composition were fabricated in a water-cooled copper mold with a diameter of 2 mm, and in a graphite mold with a diameter of 3 mm. The formation of crystalline phases of Fe-23(B, C)(6), alpha-Fe and Mo3Co3C based on XRD patterns was observed after the partial crystallization process. To determine the toughness of the as-cast and annealed samples, the indentation technique was used. These results revealed that the maximum hardness and toughness were depicted in the sample casted in the water-cooled copper mold and annealed up to 928 degrees C. The reason of it can be attributed to the formation of crystalline clusters in the amorphous matrix of the samples casted in the graphite mold, so that this decrease in the cooling rate causes to changing the chemical composition of the amorphous matrix.