Determination of the glass-forming concentration range in binary alloys from a semiempirical theory: Application to Zr-based alloys

A semiempirical theory is presented to calculate free-energy diagrams of glass-forming alloys. The theory is based on the enthalpy of formation of the solid solution expressed as a sum of two contributions: (a) a chemical contribution due to electronic redistribution in forming the alloy, and (b) an elastic contribution arising from the difference in size between solute and solvent atoms. The enthalpy of formation of the amorphous phase has only the chemical contribution. The theory is used to successfully describe the glass-forming concentration range of some Zr-based alloys, which have been experimentally analyzed by several distinct techniques.