Thermal crystallization of an Al88Ni6Sm6 metallic glass

This work essentially deals with the first stages of crystallization of melt spun Al1−(x+y)NixSmy metallic glasses. Specific emphasis is given to the microstructural and kinetics aspects of primary crystallization because of the high specific strength of this class of materials in the partially crystallized state. The nanometric size of the crystalline particles is measured either by direct transmission electron microscopy or by indirect X-ray diffractometry. The Kissinger model as well as the Friedman model free method is used to estimate the local activation energies and the results obtained with both kinds of approaches are compared. A sustained attention is also paid to the nature of the crystallization phenomenon at the origin of the second exothermic peak in differential scanning calorimetry. This result is indeed the subject of controversy in the literature data concerned by Al-Ni-Sm alloys.