Effect of mischmetal substitution on the glass-forming ability of Mg–Ni–La bulk metallic glasses

The effect of La substitution by LaMM (lanthanum mischmetal) on the glass-forming ability of a Mg–Ni–La metallic glass has been studied. For compositions close to the eutectic Mg69Ni18La13, the LaMM substitution improved the glass-forming ability, for instance up to a critical amorphous diameter of 2 mm for the Mg65Ni20LaMM15 alloy. However, of all the alloys studied, it has been observed that La-containing alloys have higher GFA for compositions further from the eutectic and a maximum critical amorphous diameter of 2.5 mm was obtained for the Mg60Ni23.6La16.4 alloy.