Abstract: In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, an alloy or other composite material is provided formed of a bulk metallic glass matrix with a microstructure of crystalline metal particles. The alloy preferably has a composition of (XaNibCuc)100?d?cYdAlc, wherein the sum of a, b and c equals 100, wherein 40?a?80, 0?b?35, 0?c?40, 4?d?30, and 0?e?20, and wherein preferably X is composed of an early transition metal and preferably Y is composed of a refractory body-centered cubic early transition metal. A preferred embodiment of the invention also provides a method of producing an alloy composed of two or more phases at ambient temperature. The method includes the steps of providing a metastable crystalline phase composed of at least two elements, heating the metastable crystalline phase together with at least one additional element to form a liquid, casting the liquid, and cooling the liquid to form the alloy.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 5, 2002
Date of Patent:
July 19, 2005
Assignees:
Johns Hopkins University, United States Army Research Laboratory
Inventors:
Todd C. Hufnagel, Ryan T. Ott, Cang Fan, Laszlo Kecskes