Synthesis of High-Thermally Stable Ni₆₀Nb_13.3Zr_13.3Ti_13.3 Amorphous Alloy by Mechanical Alloying

In this research, a high-energy mechanical milling process was used to create an amorphous alloy composed of Ni60Nb13.3Zr13.3Ti13.3. Hexane served as the process control agent during the preparation. The possibility of the amorphous phase formation in the proposed alloy was investigated using Miedema’s semi-empirical model. In addition, the structures of the milled and annealed samples were studied by XRD and HRTEM. Moreover, the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the prepared amorphous alloy were examined by nanoindentation analysis and DTA/TG analysis, respectively. The thermodynamic prediction shows that the amorphous phase structure can form in the Ni₆₀Nb_13.3Zr_13.3Ti_13.3 alloy and the results of the experimental tests confirmed it. The amorphous phase formed in this alloy after 20 h of milling. The findings indicated that the hardness and Young’s modulus of the amorphous sample were 15.32 GPa and 179.31 GPa, respectively. Additionally, the amorphous phase exhibited remarkable thermal stability up to 889 °C.