Influence of structural relaxation on the magnetic permeability aftereffect of amorphous ferromagnetic alloys

Room temperature measurements of the aftereffect of the magnetic permeability have been performed on amorphous Fe-(Cu--Cr)-B ribbons annealed at various temperatures. The results, in good agreement with the predictions of a new theory, give information on the effect of structural relaxation on the shear stress defects responsible for the magnetic aftereffect.     

Mechanisms of inelastic deformation in metallic glasses

The phenomenology of inelastic deformation in metallic glasses is briefly reviewed. This is followed by a short review of methods used to characterize the glassy structure. Considerable emphasis is put on the amorphous soap bubble raft as a two-dimensional analog medium that can give quantitatively accurate simulations of both the structural properties ofmetallic glasses and the mechanisms of their inelastic deformation. Analysis of such sheared bubble rafts has established that the basic ingredient of inelastic deformation in these materials is shear transformations occurring in small, atomic size volume elements that are only weakly interacting. Through the use of an inter-bubble potential, the changes in energy of these shear transformations can be analyzed in great detail. This has disclosed a remarkable capability in the model to parallel and predict complex relaxation phenomena in metallic glasses down to the detail of simulating the distributed nature of the structure and the free energies for transformation. This has led further to a very satisfactory model for the kinetics of anelastic and viscoplastic response of the structure for processes on shear localization, and nas led even to a semi-quantitative model for embrittlement resulting from physical ageing.     

Shear influence on the structural ordering in a model metallic glass

Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of a model amorphous system are performed with the aim of studying the structural transformations induced by external shear influence. We reveal that the shear drive has both positive and negative effects on the structural ordering processes. The dependence of the phase transition rate versus the strain rate at three different temperatures is found.     

Kinetic features of the deformation of solids in nano-and microscopic volumes

The deformation dynamics of nanovolumes in crystalline, quasicrystalline, and amorphous solids is studied experimentally using continuous nanoindentation with a resolution of 0.1 nm. The elastic limits of some materials are determined in a nanocontact region. A jumplike transition to a plastic flow (which is equivalent to a drop in yield in uniaxial macroscopic tests) is revealed and studied. The dynamics and statistics of an unstable plastic flow in strain-aging alloys are analyzed. The specific features of a local stress-strain curve associated with a phase transformation under an indenter and with microcrack nucleation are revealed. The load-carrying ability of a material upon nanocontact loading is shown to be many times its macroscopic yield strength and to approach the theoretical ultimate strength even in plastic materials. The relaxation processes occurring in submicrovolumes after unloading are found to induce an elastic aftereffect that is much larger than that in macroscopic tests. In Si and Ge single crystals, the effect of a jumplike increase in the cracking resistance with the strain rate is detected.     

Nonlinear attractor dynamics in the fundamental and extended prism adaptation paradigm

Adaptation and re-adaptation processes are studied in terms of dynamic attractors that evolve and devolve. In doing so, a theoretical account is given for the fundamental observation that adaptation and re-adaptation processes do not exhibit one-trial learning. Moreover, the emergence of the latent aftereffect in the extended prism paradigm is addressed.     

Phase transformations and thermal stability of the structure of Ti<Subscript>3</Subscript>Al intermetallic compound at deuteration and plastic deformation

The structural transformations in Ti₃Al intermetallic compound at deuteration with concentrations x = 1.2 and 1.7, heating at 100–400°C, and shear deformation under pressure have been studied. It is established that at a given deuterium concentration deuterides with fcc and orthorhombic lattices are formed; under severe shear deformation, nanocrystalline and amorphous (or close to amorphous) deuterides arise. The reasons for the structure amorphization at deuteration and subsequent plastic deformation are discussed.     

基于逾渗理论的非晶合金屈服行为研究

从非晶合金的微观结构出发,基于处理强无序和具有随机几何结构系统常用的理论方法——逾渗理论来描述非晶合金剪切屈服时的塑性流变.为了更好地理解非晶合金剪切带萌生时的临界问题,结合已有的"自由体积(free volume)模型"和"剪切转变区(shear transformation zone)模型",建立了非晶合金剪切转变的逾渗模型.以Cu_(25)Zr_(75)二元非晶合金为例,计算了在剪切转变区内易发生塑性流动的原子团簇剪切失稳的逾渗阈值,并粗略估算了这些原子团簇的大小.研究发现,剪切失稳的逾渗阈值与临界约化自由体积浓度(x_c～2.4%)有着相似的特性,不同之处在于其值与自由体积的分散度有着密切联系.研究结果作为非晶合金的韧脆转变问题提供了新思路.     

Physics of megaplastic (Severe) deformation in solids

The main regularities of structural and phase transformations occurring in solids have been analyzed experimentally and theoretically within the framework of the concept of manifestation of additional channels providing the dissipation of an elastic energy introduced into a solid under megaplastic deformation. It has been demonstrated that an active participation of low-temperature dynamical recrystallization processes, phase transitions of the type crystal ai amorphous state, and thermal effects under the conditions of an insufficient efficiency of the dislocation and disclination relaxation modes can consistently explain almost all the experimental results obtained for very severe plastic deformations.     

Influence of the Magnetoelastic Mechanism on the Switching-field Fluctuations of Fe-based Amorphous Microwires

Experimental switching-field fluctuations on Fe-rich amorphous microwires have been studied at different temperatures. Two processes have been identified to be responsible for the temperature dependence of the switching field: Magnetostrictive volume domain-wall pinning and relaxation effects due to structural rearrangements A simple model accounting for two energy contributions to the switching-field has been used to fit experimental data. The switching field distribution and its unusual temperature dependence is solved in terms of a thermoactivated model. The distribution width is found to be proportional to the switching field.     

Laser-induced structural relaxation in Sb-rich SbGe films

Structural relaxation processes are induced by pulsed laser irradiation in amorphous SbGe thin films with compositions richer in Sb than the eutectics. These processes are studied by means of real-time optical measurements and transmission electron microscopy analytical techniques. The influence of the laser pulse length and the film composition is analysed. The results show that the relaxed amorphous material exhibits different optical properties, density and lower-energy density threshold for crystallisation. A qualitative change in the relaxation mechanism is observed when the composition of the films is slightly changed.     

Optical contrast by laser-induced phase changes: Real time optical measurement of fast transformation times

Real time optical measurements are used to analyse two different kinds of phase changes which generate optical contrast in (In₄₃Sb₅₇)₈₇Ge₁₃ thin films. Amorphous to crystalline and amorphous to amorphous structural transformations are induced by pulsed laser irradiation in micron-sized regions. A two beam configuration is used to follow the evolution of the optical properties of the films in real time. It is shown that real time optical measurements provide a unique tool to analyse laser-induced fast structural transformations leading to optical contrast. Processes occurring via relaxation, solid state crystallization or melting-solidification are clearly distinguished. From the analysis of the optical transients the minimum transformation times are directly determined.On Sabbatical leave from IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA, USA     

Frequency-dependent loss in amorphous semiconductors

Recent developments in the theoretical analysis and experimental study of frequency-dependent loss by relaxation in amorphous semiconductors are reviewed. A unified theoretical treatment of the complex a.c. conductivity is given, within the pair approximation, for single electron tunnelling and hopping in both uncorrelated and strongly correlated cases, and the discussion is then extended to pair processes and to atomic relaxation. The problems associated with measuring the frequency dependent conductivity of amorphous samples are considered, and relevant measurements reported for the different classes of amorphous semiconductors, tetrahedral and group V materials and chalcogenides are reviewed in the light of the available theoretical models. The similarity in the magnitudes and frequency, temperature and electric field dependences of the losses observed in many different systems at liquid helium temperatures is noted, and the possible physical reasons for this are examined.     

Influence of the chemical composition of Al-based amorphous alloys on thermally induced embrittlement

Structural changes of rapidly cooled ribbons of the amorphous alloys Al_88–86(Ni,Co,Fe)_6–8(Y,Gd,Nd,La)_5–6, which occur during heating at a rate of 10 K/min and lead to a loss of ductility, have been investigated experimentally. It has been shown that samples of the studied alloys are divided into two groups, in the first of which the loss of ductility is due to the formation of a nanocomposite structure, whereas the embrittlement of samples in the second group is caused by processes of structural relaxation in the amorphous phase (decrease in the concentration of a free volume). It has been established for the first time that there is an empirical correlation between the dynamic temperature, after heating to which the alloys lose their ductility at room temperature, and the ratio of the shear modulus to the elastic modulus of the alloys, which is calculated from the nominal chemical composition.     

Time scale bridging in atomistic simulation of slow dynamics: viscous relaxation and defect activation

Atomistic simulation methods are known for timescale limitations in resolving slow dynamical processes. Two well-known scenarios of slow dynamics are viscous relaxation in supercooled liquids and creep deformation in stressed solids. In both phenomena the challenge to theory and simulation is to sample the transition state pathways efficiently and follow the dynamical processes on long timescales. We present a perspective based on the biased molecular simulation methods such as metadynamics, autonomous basin climbing (ABC), strain-boost and adaptive boost simulations. Such algorithms can enable an atomic-level explanation of the temperature variation of the shear viscosity of glassy liquids, and the relaxation behavior in solids undergoing creep deformation. By discussing the dynamics of slow relaxation in two quite different areas of condensed matter science, we hope to draw attention to other complex problems where anthropological or geological-scale time behavior can be simulated at atomic resolution and understood in terms of micro-scale processes of molecular rearrangements and collective interactions. As examples of a class of phenomena that can be broadly classified as materials ageing, we point to stress corrosion cracking and cement setting as opportunities for atomistic modeling and simulations.     

Structural relaxation in metastable alloys

A mechanism of stress relaxation in metastable alloys is considered. It is demonstrated that structural transformations during a relaxation test lead to anomalously high stress relaxation. Two stages of structural relaxation are revealed: formation of defect-free channels and decomposition of a solid solution. A new method of program hardening of metastable alloys based on the structural relaxation processes is suggested. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 56–61, November, 2007.     

Investigation into the dielectric relaxation of vinylidene fluoride copolymers with hexafluoropropylene

Four relaxation processes and one ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition are revealed in vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene copolymers with different ratios of the components in the temperature range from ?100 to 150°C. The relaxation process occurring at the lowest temperature is associated with the local mobility of the chains, whereas the relaxation process at a higher temperature is due to micro-Brownian motion of segments in the amorphous phase in the glass transition range. A smeared relaxor phase transition from the polar modification of the α phase of vinylidene fluoride units to the paraelectric phase is observed in the temperature range 50–70°C. At higher temperatures, there occurs an intensive relaxation process that can be attributed to space-charge relaxation or manifestation of the normal relaxation mode.     

Plastic deformation transfer through the amorphous intercrystallite phase in nanoceramics

A three-dimensional model is proposed for plastic deformation transfer through the amorphous intercrystallite phase in mechanically loaded nanoceramics. In this model, glide dislocation loops are pressed against amorphous intercrystallite boundaries by the applied local shear stress and initiate in them local longitudinal plastic shears, which causes emission of new glide dislocation loops into neighboring grains. The energy characteristics of these processes and the critical applied stress required for barrierless nucleation of grainboundary and intragrain loops are calculated. As an example, a nanoceramic based on cubic silicon carbide is considered. It is shown that plastic deformation transfer through the amorphous intercrystallite phase in such nanoceramics is energetically favorable and can occur athermically over wide ranges of values of the applied stress and the structural characteristics of the material.     

Thermostimulated creep in amorphous polyolefins. I

The thermostimulated creep of two amorphous polyolefins having the repeating unit ─(CH₂)_mC(CH₃)2─, where m = 2 and 3, was investigated from 77° to 350°. Two relaxation processes are distinguished: a secondary relaxation is observed at 138 and 113°, respectively, for m = 2 and m = 3; a primary relaxation is found around the glass transition. These relaxations have been resolved in their elementary components. From the data acquired, the mechanical losses have been calculated and compared with data from an inverted torsional pendulum. The activation energy found for the secondary relaxation—0.26 eV at 138° K for the amorphous polyolefin with m = 2 and 0.19 eV at 113° K for the polyolefin with m = 3—confirms that this relaxation mode is associated with restricted backbone motion.     

A fluctuation-dissipation theorem approach to mechanical relaxation in solid polymers

Abstract

Kubo theory formalism has been used to obtain expressions for shear and dilatational stress relaxation functions in terms of statistical mechanical time-dependent correlation functions. This is equivalent to obtaining expressions for the complex modulus or the complex viscosity for all frequencies. These results provide a basis for calculating the macroscopic consequences of molecular models presently used to provide qualitative understanding of relaxation peaks for solid polymers.

The shear and dilatational stress relaxation functions are quite different formally. For a particularly simple model it will be shown that the former is related to the frequency distribution of the kinetic energy and is also closely related to the dielectric relaxation function. The familiar results of the Rouse model are recovered in the results but no friction constant need be assumed in the present approach.     

Solution of the Boltzmann equation by expanding the distribution function with several time and coordinate scales in the enskog series in knudsen parameter

A method to solve the Boltzmann equation is analyzed in the case when the distribution function depends on slow and fast time and coordinate scales. Basic relationships for calculating the nonequilibrium multiscale distribution function are shown to differ substantially from those found in the framework of the Chapman-Enskog method: the transfer equations are complemented by the contributions of relaxation processes. The heat and momentum transfer equations derived from the general solution to the Boltzmann equation involve additional terms accounting for relaxation effects. The relaxation effects included in the energy equation result in both a hyperbolic heat conduction equation and a finite rate of heat transfer. In the viscous stress tensor, the Newtonian term of the transfer equation turns out to be supplemented by relaxation terms.