Glass formation and magnetic properties of Fe–C–Si–B–P–(Cr–Al–Co) bulk metallic glasses fabricated using industrial raw materials

Formation of Fe–C–Si–B–P–(Cr–Al–Co) bulk metallic glasses with enhanced glass-forming ability (GFA) and magnetic properties fabricated using industrial pig-iron and Fe–P alloys as raw materials has been studied. It was found that GFA of the pig-iron (Fe79.5C18.0Si2.3P0.2, at%) could be improved by proper additions of only metalloids C, Si, P and B, and fully glassy structure was obtained in the Fe75.5C7.0Si3.3B5.5P8.7 alloy with a critical diameter of 1 mm. With suitable additions of metallic elements Cr, Co and Al, the GFA is further increased and fully amorphous rods in 4 mm diameter can be prepared for the Fe68.2C7.0Si3.3B5.5P8.7Cr2.3Al2.0Co3.0 alloy that shows a unique combination of good soft-magnetic properties (Ms=1.03 T, Hc=9.39 A/m), high GFA and high fracture strength. These low-cost Fe-based bulk metallic glasses fabricated using industrial raw materials have a potential to be utilized as engineering materials.