Effect of Minor V Addition on Al88Y7Fe5 Amorphous Alloys

The effect of the addition of 0.2-0.65 at% of V on the glass forming ability and mechanical properties of Al88Y7Fe5 alloy were investigated. The addition of V in this range had little effect on the glass forming ability of the alloy, but lowered the tensile strength of the amorphous ribbon. The fracture surface of Al88Y7Fe5 amorphous ribbons was typical vein pattern for ductile metallic glasses, however, that of the alloy with 0.5% V addition changed to two different regions, i.e., vein pattern region and smooth region. At high magnification, the smooth region was composed of nanometer sized corrugations, which is typical for brittle metallic glasses.