Microstructural and Microhardness Variation of Amorphous Fe78Si9B13 Alloy during Bend Stress Relaxation

The amorphous Fe78Si9B13 ribbons were bend stress relaxed at various temperature well below the crystallization temperature (Tx) for different time. The effect of pre-annealing on the subsequent bend stress relaxation was examined. The variation of the microstructure and microhardness during bend stress relaxation process was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Vickers microhardness test,respectively. Curvature radius of the amorphous Fe78Si9B13 ribbons decreased with increase bend stress relaxation temperature and time. The microhardness of the stress relaxed specimens increased with time at 300℃ due to the forming of nanocrystals during bend stress relaxation. The pre-annealing reduced the decrease rate of the curvature radius of stress relaxed specimens.