Relation between the structural parameters of metallic glasses at the onset crystallization temperatures and threshold values of the effective diffusion coefficients

Using the results of differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffractometry, an analysis has been carried out of the initial stages of the eutectic and primary mechanisms of crystallization of a series of metallic glasses based on Fe and Al with the established temperature dependences of the effective diffusion coefficients. Analytical relationships, which relate the volume density of crystallites formed in the glasses at the temperatures of the onset of crystallization with the values of the effective diffusion coefficients at these temperatures have been proposed. It has been established that, in the glasses, the crystallization of which begins at the lower boundary of the threshold values of the effective diffusion coefficients (~10–20 m2/s), structures are formed with the volume density of crystallites on the order of 1023–1024 m–3 and, at the upper boundary (10–18 m2/s), of the order of 1018 and 1020 m–3 in the glasses that are crystallized via the eutectic and primary mechanisms, respectively. Good agreement between the calculated and experimental estimates indicates that the threshold values of the effective diffusion coefficients are the main factors that determine the structure of glasses at the initial stages of crystallization.