Crystallization kinetics of TiZrHfCuNiBe high entropy bulk metallic glass

• The first report on crystallization kinetics of high entropy bulk metallic glasses.
• Ti16.7Zr16.7Hf16.7Cu16.7Ni16.7Be16.7 alloy was chosen as a model material.
• Both non-isothermal and isothermal modes.
• The nucleation rate decreases during the crystallization process.

The isochronal and isothermal DSC annealing techniques have been employed to investigate the crystallization behavior of a newly developed Ti16.7Zr16.7Hf16.7Cu16.7Ni16.7Be16.7 high entropy bulk metallic glass. In non-isothermal condition, the activation energies for glass transition, onset and the first crystallization process were determined by Kissinger equation, to be 331.8±8.0, 215.3±4.5 and 245.5±6.3 kJ/mol, respectively. The isothermal kinetics was modeled by the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) equation. During the crystallization process, the isothermal activation energy calculated by the Arrhenius equation changes little with an average value of 259.9 kJ/mol. The Avrami exponent is in the range from 1.81 to 2.04, indicating that the crystallization process is mainly dominated by growth of particles with a decreasing nucleation rate.