Thermodynamic Analysis of Glass-forming Range and Glass-forming Ability in Gd-Fe-Al System

Gibbs free energy of amorphous alloys,solid solutions and compounds in the Gd-Fe-Al ternary system were calculated with a semi-empirical model based on Miedema's theory to predict the glass-forming range(GFR) and the glass-forming ability(GFA) of this system.It has been found that Gd-based bulk metallic glasses(BMGs) well locate in the predicted GFR;and the predicted GFA is in good agreement with experiments for Gd-based alloys Gd65Fe20Al15,Gd65Fe15Al20 and Gd70Fe15Al15.However,the predicted GFR and GFA of Al-based alloys do not agree well with experiments due to its unique position of eutectic point.The Gibbs free energy difference between amorphous and solid solution has an important effect on glass formation.