A Spinodal Decomposition Model for the Prediction of the Glass-Forming Ability of Ternary Mg Alloys

The glass-forming ability (GFA) of two alloy systems, Mg-Y-La and Mg-Zn-Nd, was investigated using thermal and microstructural analysis. Rapid solidification was found to lead to microstructural refinement and partial amorphization of the most investigated alloys. The addition of Cu to the Mg-Y-La group was found to increase its tendency to undergo amorphization during rapid solidification, exemplified by the Mg86Y9.5Cu2.5La2 alloy exhibiting a pronounced crystallization peak in the differential scanning calorimetry trace. Two Mg-Zn-Nd alloys, Mg71Zn28Nd and Mg73.6Zn22.1Nd4.3, were found to exhibit significant amorphous behavior, with the former alloy being more amorphous than the latter. An innovative model predicting the GFA of alloys based on spinodal-like decomposition of supercooled alloys is formulated herein. New generalized thermo-kinetic criteria for spinodal decomposition of ternary alloys for time/space-correlated fluctuations were formulated. The time-dependent amplification factor of concentration fluctuations in ternary systems was found to provide adequate GFA evaluation for the compositions of both alloy systems: Mg-Y-La and Mg-Zn-Nd. The model was able to pinpoint the most amorphous alloy in each alloy system, and comparison between both systems pointed to Mg71Zn28Nd as having the best GFA, while also recognizing that it has a lower GFA than the widely known and highly glass-formable Mg65Cu25Y10 alloy. This model is expected to predict the GFA of any envisaged composition, thereby avoiding cumbersome trials.