A new model on the viscosities of the Zr-Cu-Al liquid alloys

A new model for the viscosities of multi-component liquid alloys has been proposed within the framework of the CALPHAD (CALculation and PHAse Diagram) method. Unlike the previous CALPHAD-type modeling, the viscosity is described by the Arrhenius equation and the interaction of ternary components could be considered when necessary. With this model, the viscosities of the Zr-Cu-Al liquid alloys were optimized based on the experimental data and the viscosities at liquidus temperatures were calculated over the entire composition range. By analyzing the calculated viscosities of the reported metallic glasses, it is found that alloys with a high glass-forming ability usually possess a viscosity larger than 0.01 Pa.s at liquidus temperature.