Abstract: Bulk Zr55Al10Ni5Cu30 metallic glass plates with a dimension of 85mm×35mm×4mm and a complicated plate were fabricated by injecting casting method using spongy zirconium and industrial purity aluminum, nickel and copper as raw materials. It was shown that the holding time of liquid metals at elevated temperatures had a great influence on the oxygen content of the plates due to the contamination resulting from the atmosphere. Increasing holding time resulted in the increase of oxygen content in the injected alloy. The glass transition temperatures of the bulk metallic glass plates are higher than that reported in the literature and crystallization temperature is lower for the one with higher oxygen content at the same heating rate. The extension of the undercooled liquid region ΔTX reaching about 87 K is 3 K higher than that previously reported and 26 K higher than that with oxygen content of 0.076 wt pct for the one with oxygen content as high as 0.065 wt pct. Therefore the oxygen content of the alloy has a significant influence on the glass forming ability and thermal stability of bulk metal glass. It is suggested that direct correlation between high glass forming ability and large ΔTX is only valid for a well-defined low oxygen concentration or has to be reconsidered by incorporating oxygen as an additional alloying element.

Key words: Zr-base amorphous alloy, Oxygen, Undercooling