Effect of yttrium on the glass-forming ability of Fe–Cr–Mo–C–B bulk amorphous alloys

New bulk metallic glasses are produced by substituting a few atomic percentages of iron with yttrium in the Fe45−xCr16Mo16C18B5Yx (x = 0, 1, 2, 3) alloy systems. The study shows that the optimum yttrium content in the alloy for the best glass-forming ability is 2 at.%, and with this composition fully amorphous as-cast samples with a size of 6 mm in diameter can be produced by the copper mold casting. The mechanism for the effect of yttrium addition on the glass-forming ability of the Fe45−xCr16Mo16C18B5Yx (x = 0, 1, 2, 3) alloys is discussed according to the effect of yttrium content in the alloy on the characteristic temperature values as measured by using DTA in this study. Furthermore, the compression tests of the bulk amorphous samples of Fe43Cr16Mo16C18B5Y2 alloy show that the room temperature compressive strength of the amorphous alloy is approximately 1824 MPa.