Correlation between pre-peak in structure factor and physical properties in Al-based amorphous alloys

To study the influence of Fe addition on the Al-based amorphous alloys, the structure and properties of Al84Ni10La6 and Al84Ni9Fe1La6 alloys were investigated through various techniques. The results show that 1% Fe (molar fraction) addition increases the area of the pre-peak in the structure factor and decreases the thermal expansion coefficient difference between the crystalline and amorphous states. 1% Fe addition also improves the glass forming ability (GFA), micro-hardness, fracture toughness, electric resistivity, absolute diamagnetism and corrosion resistance of Al-Ni-La alloys, which is related to the changes of medium-range order and quench-in free volume caused by 1% Fe addition.