Proposed thermodynamic method to predict the glass formation of the ternary transition metal systems.

By considering the energetic competition between the crystalline solid solution and glass phase, a thermodynamic method is proposed to predict/determine the glass forming range of a ternary metal system and in terms of the dynamics, the parameter gamma(ABC)* is further defined to search for a proper alloy with superior glass forming ability in the system. 10 more ternary/binary metal systems, e.g. the Cu-Zr-Ti and Cu-Hf-Ti systems, were studied and the predicted alloys of superior glass forming ability match well with those reported from experimental observations.