Glass-forming ability and crystallization of Mg-Ni amorphous alloys with Y addition

Mg86.33Ni13.67−xYx(x=0, 1, 3, 6, 10) amorphous alloys were obtained by single-roller melt-spinning technique and the effect of Y addition on the glass forming ability(GFA), crystallization and micro-hardness of Mg-Ni alloys were studied. The results show that the GFA of Mg86.33Ni13.67−xYx(x=0, 1, 3, 6, 10) is improved successfully with the Y addition. The highest GFA appeares at x=6, while the reduced glass transition temperature (Trg) is 0.5225 and the supercooled liquid region(ΔTx) is 42.06 K; the position of the main diffraction halo is different for the alloys, and the maximum of the main diffraction halo of alloys with x=0, 1, 3 corresponds to the main peaks of a metastable fcc-Mg6Ni or fcc-Mg6Ni + Ni-Y intermetallic phases, and for the alloys with x=6, 10, it corresponds to Mg-Y and Ni-Y intermetallic phases; the micro-hardness of the alloys is improved with Y additions, and the highest micro-hardness is obtained at x=6 at.%, which is 960 MPa.