Influence of the wheel speed on the thermal behaviour of Cu<inf>60</inf>Zr<inf>20</inf>Ti<inf>20</inf> alloys

The effect of the wheel velocity's strong influence on the glass forming ability (GFA), the thermal stability and the crystallization kinetics of ductile Cu60Zr20Ti20 ribbons has been studied. The samples were characterised by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) using continuous heating and isothermal annealings, X-ray diffraction and microhardness. The DSC measurements revealed that the higher wheel speed results in a higher glass transition (Tg) and higher crystallization temperature (Ton). Independent of wheel speed, the crystallization takes place in a two-stage process. From the isothermal treatment, the crystallization kinetics was analysed using the Avrami model. The microhardness exhibits a linear relationship as a function of the crystallized volume fraction. A perfect solute mixture model of defect free nanoparticles embedded in an amorphous matrix was used to account for this strengthening mechanism. © 2003 Elsevier B.V.