Tantalum based bulk metallic glasses

Ta-based bulk metallic glasses with high strength (2.7 GPa) and hardness (9.7 GPa), high elastic modulus (170 GPa) and high density (12.98 g/mm³) were developed. The best glass forming ability so far for a Ta-Ni-Co system reaches a critical diameter of 2 mm by the copper mold casting method. It shows an exceptionally high glass transition temperature of 983 K and a high crystallization temperature up to 1023 K. The unique mechanical and physical properties make them a promising high strength material.     

Improved plasticity of iron-based high-strength bulk metallic glasses by copper-induced nanocrystallization

A significant enhancement in plasticity was achieved by the micro-addition of Cu in Fe-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) which have high strength at room-temperature. It was found that the nanocrystallization caused by the formation of the α-Fe phase is responsible for the improvement in plasticity of the Fe-based BMGs. Our results suggest that the micro-addition of Cu is a promising approach to enhancing the plasticity of Fe-based BMGs through compositional and structural design by microalloying.     

Structural relaxation of Ti40Zr25Ni8Cu9Be18 bulk metallic glass

Ti₄₀Zr₂₅Ni₈Cu₉Be₁₈ bulk metallic glass has a unique quenched-in nuclei/amorphous matrix structure. The crystallization of quenched-in nuclei, when the experimental isothermal annealing time is within its incubation time, may not disturb the enthalpy relaxation, which makes it have the accordingly common enthalpy relaxation behavior with amorphous materials. The alloy's annealing time dependence of recovery enthalpy follows a stretched exponential function with the mean relaxation time obeying an Arrhenius law. The equilibrium recovery enthalpy ΔH_T^eq, mean relaxation time τ and stretching exponent β are all dependent on the annealing temperature, and generally, a higher annealing temperature comes with a lower value of ΔH_T^eq, τ and a higher value of β. Two parameters, β_g and τ_g, representing the stretching exponent and the mean structural relaxation time at the calorimetric glass transition temperature, respectively, are correlated with glass forming ability and thermal stability, respectively. For Ti₄₀Zr₂₅Ni₈Cu₉Be₁₈ BMG, the high value of β_g, which is much higher than 0.84 and approaches unity, reveals its good glass forming ability, while, on the other hand, the low value of τ_g indicates a worse thermal stability compared with typical BMGs.     

Enhanced plasticity of a Zr50Cu48Al2 bulk metallic glass

In this work, a Zr₅₀Cu₄₈Al₂ bulk metallic glass (BMG) with improved glass forming ability and mechanical properties was synthesized by adding a small amount of Al to a Zr-Cu binary glass-forming alloy. The as-cast Zr₅₀Cu₄₈Al₂ glassy rod does not exhibit macroscopic failure under compression at room temperature indicating the excellent plasticity of the BMG. The deformation behavior of the BMG was studied intensively by examining the true stress-strain curve and the surface morphology of the post-deformation sample. The effect of minor Al addition on the mechanical properties including the fracture stress, the modulus, and the kinetic characteristics of the BMG was also investigated. The enhanced plasticity of the BMG is considered to be related to its reduced fragility parameter m value.     

Isochronal crystallization kinetics of Cu60Zr20Ti20 bulk metallic glass

Isochronal crystallization kinetics of Cu₆₀Zr₂₀Ti₂₀ bulk metallic glass has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. By means of the Kissinger, Ozawa, Kempen, Matusita and Gao methods, average effective activation energies for the first and second crystallization reactions in Cu₆₀Zr₂₀Ti₂₀ are calculated to be about 375 ± 9 and 312 ± 11 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively, which are smaller than the values deduced from isothermal experiments. Meanwhile, average Avrami exponents, 3.0 ± 0.1 and 3.4 ± 0.2, for two crystallization reactions in isochronal anneals, differ from the value about 2.0 in isothermal anneals. The nonidentity of the Avrami exponents and effective activation energies may be contributed to different crystallization mechanisms and the nature of non-isokinetic between isochronal and isothermal experiments. The values of frequency factor k₀ for the first and second crystallization reactions of Cu₆₀Zr₂₀Ti₂₀ are (1.7 ± 0.3) × 10²⁴ and (7.0 ± 0.8) × 10¹⁸ s⁻¹, respectively, and the large value of k₀ has been discussed in terms of the atomic configuration and interaction.     

Thermophysical properties of Zr-Cu-Al metallic glasses during crystallization

The crystallization behavior of Zr-Cu-Al metallic glasses was studied using thermophysical property measurements. When the Zr content of Zr-Cu-Al metallic glass decreased from 65 at.% to 45 at.%, the thermal conductivity gradually increased and the maximum value obtained was the composition of Zr:Cu:Al = 50:39.3:10.7(at.%). These metallic glasses were not crystallized upon heat treatment below the glass transition temperature T_g, and the thermophysical properties of these metallic glasses were almost constant. In contrast, these metallic glasses started to crystallize upon heat treatment above T_g after a certain derived time, and their thermal conductivity increased with the crystallinity of the metallic glass.     

On the reality of the residual entropy of glasses and disordered crystals: The entropy of mixing

We have previously shown that the assumption that the configurational entropy of a supercooled liquid vanishes at T_g leads to a non-trivial violation of the second law. Here we consider the example of the entropy of mixing. We use as a model system two similar chemical substances which form an ideal solution in a mixed phase. We apply the reasoning of our earlier paper to show that this vanishing would lead to a dilemma; either it violates the second law of thermodynamics, or else it cannot be demonstrated by any conceivable experiment. We show further that the vanishing of the entropy of mixing on kinetic arrest leads to the counter-intuitive result that the chemical potential of each component in an infinitely dilute kinetically arrested (or glassy) solution can equal or the chemical potential of the pure component. The most parsimonious conclusion from these results is that residual entropies are real.     

Mg based bulk metallic glasses: Glass transition temperature and elastic properties versus toughness

In this work, optimal compositions for bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) formation in the ternary Mg-Cu-Nd and Mg-Ni-Nd systems are located at the Mg₅₇Cu₃₄Nd₉ and Mg₆₄Ni₂₁Nd₁₅, respectively, with the critical diameter of 4 mm for the rods fabricated by copper mold casting. As indicated by notch toughness testing, Mg₆₄Ni₂₁Nd₁₅ BMG (K_Q = 5.1 MPa√m) manifests higher toughness with respect to the Mg₅₇Cu₃₄Nd₉ (K_Q = 3.6 MPa√m), even though both BMGs have similar compressive fracture strength of 870-880 MPa. Such an improvement in toughness for Mg BMGs correlates with the reduction of shear modulus and the enhancement of thermal stability to resist to the structural relaxation at room temperature, which is indicated by the elevated glass transition temperature T_g. Under the Mode I loading condition, morphology in fracture surface of the Mg₆₄Ni₂₁Nd₁₅ BMG varies along the crack propagation path. Fractographic evolution of the fracture surface follows the Taylor's meniscus instability criterion. For the Mg-based BMGs, shear modulus scales with the glass transition temperature, and can be expressed as μ = 4.7 + 625T_g/V_m[1-4/9(T/T_g)^2/3]. Meanwhile, correlation between the calorimetric T_g and elastic properties at T_g can be rationalized with Egami's model.     

Phase competition of Cu64Zr36 and its effect on glass forming ability of the alloy

In the present paper, crystallization behavior and glass forming ability (GFA) of Cu₆₄Zr₃₆ bulk metallic glass (BMG) were studied based on the crystal phase competition. Electrical resistivity and X‐ray diffraction results indicate that Cu₆₄Zr₃₆ glass underwent a two‐stage crystallization process, during which Cu₁₀Zr₇ and Cu₅₁Zr₁₄ crystals precipitate at first and then there are only Cu₁₀Zr₇ and Cu₈Zr₃ phases at the end of the second stage. Intriguingly, it was found that it is the competing phase Cu₁₀Zr₇ that weakens GFA of the Cu₆₄Zr₃₆ alloy, because the Cu₁₀Zr₇ precipitate is fully restrained in the cast rod when substituting Zr with 7.5at%Ti and thereby its diameter with fully amorphous structure is enlarged from 1 mm to 2 mm.     

Effect of alumina on enthalpy of mixing of mixed alkali silicate glasses

The enthalpy of mixing of mixed alkali (Na₂O and K₂O) silicate glasses containing various concentrations of alumina was determined using an ion-exchange equilibrium method. For glasses with a constant alkali concentration, the enthalpy of mixing was found to become less negative with alumina addition. Consistent with our previous results on the enthalpy of mixing of alumina-free mixed alkali silicate glasses, the magnitude of enthalpy of mixing exhibited a good correlation with the molar volume mismatch of the corresponding two single alkali glasses as well as with the extent of conductivity mixed alkali effect, e.g. excess activation energy of conductivity, ΔE. The reduction of the magnitude of the enthalpy of mixing with alumina addition can be attributed to the reduction of non-bridging oxygen and ionic field strength. Combining the present results with results obtained earlier, the magnitude of the enthalpy of mixing for all mixed alkali (Na₂O and K₂O) silicate glasses with and without alumina was expressed by a simple function of a modified Tobolsky parameter, which takes into account the alkali concentration and the difference in cation-to-effective anion distances. The enthalpy of mixing data of the mixed alkali glasses was then compared with reported experimental data on the conductivity of mixed alkali aluminosilicate glasses. What appears to be conflicting experimental data can be understood in terms of the magnitude of the enthalpy of mixing and we can conclude that the mixed alkali effect is closely correlated with the negative enthalpy of mixing.     

The correlation between the pressure sensitivity and the fragility/glass transition temperature in bulk metallic glasses

The correlations between the pressure sensitivity and the fragility/glass transition temperature have been addressed in various bulk metallic glasses in the present work. The results demonstrate that the pressure sensitivity of bulk metallic glasses is closely related to both the fragility index (m) and the glass transition temperature (T_g). The physical origin of the correlations has been discussed from their disordered structure, which is determined by the glass transition behavior and the glass transition temperature.     

On the dependence of the properties of glasses on cooling and heating rates: I. Entropy, entropy production, and glass transition temperature

The glass transition is theoretically described in terms of a generic non-equilibrium thermodynamics approach employing De Donder's structural order parameter method, appropriate expressions for the relaxation behavior of glass-forming systems and a simplified but qualitative correct model of glass-forming melts with one order parameter related to the free volume of the system. Employing this approach the behavior of a variety of thermodynamic quantities describing glass-forming systems in vitrification and devitrification processes is interpreted theoretically. The present paper is devoted to the computation of the entropy, the entropy production and the glass transition temperature in dependence on the cooling and heating rates, varying latter parameter in a broad interval. A comparison with experimental results is given and some further consequences and possible extensions are discussed briefly.     

High pressure x-ray diffraction measurements on Mg2SiO4 glass

The structure factors of Mg₂SiO₄ glass have been measured using high energy x-ray diffraction up to pressures of 30.2 GPa, and the equation of state measured up to 12.8 GPa. The average Mg-O coordination numbers were extracted from the experimental pair distribution functions assuming two cases (i) there is no change in Si-O coordination number with pressure and (ii) the average Si-O coordination number increases the same as for pure SiO₂ glass. Both analyses give similar results and show a gradual increase in the average Mg-O coordination number from 5.0 at ambient pressure to ~ 6.6(6) at 30.2 GPa. There is good qualitative agreement between the experimental structure and equation of state data for the glass compared to several recent molecular dynamics simulations carried out on liquid Mg₂SiO₄.