Laser-induced combustion synthesis of Zr–Ti–Al–Ni amorphous-based alloys

Bulk metallic glasses, like many crystalline intermetallics, have large negative enthalpy of mixing among the major constituent elements, and hence are potential candidates of self-propagating high-temperature reaction systems. Based on this characteristic, the laser-induced combustion synthesis (LCS) technique has been applied to fabricate amorphous-containing alloys. In the present paper, we report the LCS of the Zr–Ti–Al–Ni alloys. A series of Zr–Ti–Al–Ni alloys is designed and synthesized by LCS. The LCS products mainly consist of intermetallic phases, but in Zr55Ti10.8Al17.1Ni17.1 and Zr50Ti21.6Al14.2Ni14.2 amorphous phases are found. The hardness and tribology characteristics are closely related to the phase contents. The amorphous phases, ductile and soft, lower the hardness and increase the friction coefficient of the LCS samples.