Microstructural study of metal-metal composites elaborated by interdiffusion between pure nickel and devitrified FeNiMoB glasses

It is well known that amorphous metallic alloys are able to give rise to microcrystallized structures when submitted to the effect of temperature, i.e. when devitrification takes place. These microstructures are particularly interesting for various applications. Materials produced from devitrified amorphous phase generally exhibit good mechanical properties, but are accompanied by some brittleness. In order to avoid this disadvantage, the authors tried to elaborate a composite material resulting from diffusion heat treatments carried out on alternate stackings of amorphous alloys and pure metal sheets. The idea is that by choosing discerning metallic glass and an appropriate diffusion heat treatment temperature, it might be possible to obtain mechanically hard phases, such as metallic borides, and disperse these compounds in the pure metallic matrix to be reinforced. Here, the authors only present the microstructural results of this study, although some preliminary mechanical tests have been preformed.