Ni59Zr20Ti16Si5 bulk amorphous alloy obtained by mechanical alloying and powder consolidation

The possibility of fabrication of bulk amorphous Ni59Zr20Ti16Si5 (numbers indicate at.%) alloy by hot isostatic compaction of powders was investigated. The amorphous powders were obtained by ball milling of amorphous melt spun ribbon and by mechanical alloying of a mixture of powders of pure crystalline elements. The as-milled and hot-pressed samples were examined by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Fully amorphous bulk samples were successfully obtained by consolidating the ball milled amorphous ribbon, while compaction of mechanically alloyed powders resulted in partial crystallization of the alloy. Simultaneously, according to microscopy observations, the porosity of the last sample was lower than the one prepared from the ball milled ribbon. The obtained results testify the further optimisation of compaction parameters is needed.