Structural and magnetic behaviors of Fe‑based glassy alloys prepared by industrial raw materials and different processing routes

Three types of Fe-based metallic glass alloys with nominal compositions of Fe74.5B5Si2C4P10Cr2Mo2Mn0.5(#A1), Fe73.5B5Si3C4P10Cr2Mo2Mn0.5(#A2), and Fe72.5B6Si3C4P10Cr2Mo2Mn0.5(#A3) are developed using commercial pure raw materials in the forms of ribbon, rod, and powder. The structural and thermal properties are investigated by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. The alloy #A1 displays complete crystallinity in powder form while dispersion of crystallites in amorphous matrix found in
ribbon and rod. The replacement of Fe by Si in #A1 causes complete amorphous structure for all forms of alloy #A2 and ribbon and rods of alloy #A3. More B atoms in alloy #A3 enhance glass transition and crystallization temperatures than alloys #A1 and #A2. The additional B and Si atoms in #A2 and #A3 influence the lowering of saturation magnetization compared to alloy #A1. However, the alloy
#A3 possess the lowest coercivity, sustaining its good magnetic softness even after post-annealing at 770 K. The optimized composition in alloy #A3 is found with high amorphous-forming ability and good sphericity in powders, which would be beneficial for improving the alloy performance at further processing like additive manufacturing.