Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T16:09:37.781Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Mechanical behavior of a Zr-based bulk metallic glass and its composite at cryogenic temperatures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Cang Fan*
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916
Y.F. Gao
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916; and Computer Science & Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
H.Q. Li
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916
H. Choo
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916; and Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
P.K. Liaw
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916
A. Inoue
Affiliation:
Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
C.T. Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: cfan@utk.edu
Get access

Abstract

The mechanical behavior of Zr-Cu-Al bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) and in situ Ta-particle-containing composites (BMGCs) was investigated at 77 K. Their strengths increased significantly whereas the plastic strains remained at comparable levels, when compared to that at 298 K. The interaction between shear bands and particles shows that shear extension in particles has limited penetration, and shear bands build up around particles. Pair distribution functions (PDFs), which carried out at cryogenic and ambient temperatures on the as-cast Zr-Cu-Al bulk metallic glasses, were studied, and simulations with reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) were performed by combining icosahedral and cubic structures as the initial structures. Based on the studies of the pair distribution functions and the Reverse Monte Carlo simulations, the concept of free volume was defined—spaces between clusters with longer bond lengths of atom pairs; the structural model of BMGs was proposed—the strongly bonded clusters correlated with each other and separated by free volume. An attempt has been made to connect the relationship between amorphous structures and their mechanical properties.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1Johnson, W.L.: Bulk glass-forming metallic alloys: Science and technology. MRS Bull. 24, 42 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Inoue, A.: Bulk Amorphous Alloys: Preparation and Functional Characteristics (Trans Tech, Zurich, 1998).Google Scholar
3Johnson, W.L.: Metastable phases, in Intermetallic Compounds Vol. 1. (New York, Wiley, 1994) p. 687.Google Scholar
4Lu, Z.P., Liu, C.T., Thompson, J.R., and Porter, W.D.: Structural amorphous steels. Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 245503 (2004).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Ponnambalam, V., Poon, S.J., and Shiflet, G.J.: Fe-based bulk metallic glasses with diameter thickness larger than one centimeter. J. Mater. Res. 19, 1320 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6Ma, H., Ma, E., and Xu, J.: A new Mg65Cu7.5Ni7.5Zn5Ag5Y10 bulk metallic glass with strong glass-forming ability. J. Mater. Res. 18, 2288 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7Fan, C., Ott, R.T., and Hufnagel, T.C.: Metallic glass matrix composite with precipitated ductile reinforcement. Appl. Phys. Lett. 81, 1020 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8Hays, C.C., Kim, C.P., and Johnson, W.L.: Microstructure controlled shear band pattern formation and enhanced plasticity of bulk metallic glasses containing in situ formed ductile phase dendrite dispersions. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2901 (2000).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Fan, C., Takeuchi, A., and Inoue, A.: Preparation and mechanical properties of Zr-based bulk nanocrystalline alloys containing compound and amorphous phases. Mater. Trans., JIM 40, 42 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10Fan, C. and Inoue, A.: Improvement of mechanical properties by precipitation of nanoscale compound particles in Zr-Cu-Pd-Al amorphous alloys. Mater. Trans., JIM 38, 1040 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Calin, M., Eckert, J., and Schultz, L.: Improved mechanical behavior of Cu-Ti-based bulk metallic glass by in situ formation of nanoscale precipitates. Scripta Mater. 48, 653 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12Fan, C., Louzguine, D.V., Li, C.F., and Inoue, A.: Nanocrystalline composites with high strength obtained in Zr-Ti-Ni-Cu-Al bulk amorphous alloys. Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, 340 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Eckert, J., Kuhn, U., Das, J., Scudino, S., and Radtke, N.: Nanostructured composite materials with improved deformation behavior. Adv. Eng. Mater. 7, 587 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14Fan, C. and Inoue, A.: Ductility of bulk nanocrystalline composites and metallic glasses at room temperature. Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 46 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15Fan, C., Li, C.F., Inoue, A., and Haas, V.: Deformation behavior of Zr-based bulk nanocrystalline amorphous alloys. Phys. Rev. B 61, R3761 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Nieh, T.G., Wadsworth, J., Liu, C.T., Ohkubo, T., and Hirotsu, Y.: Plasticity and structural instability in a bulk metallic glass deformed in the supercooled liquid region. Acta Mater. 49, 2887 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Fan, C., Li, H., Kecskes, L.J., Tao, K., Choo, H., Liaw, P.K., and Liu, C.T.: Mechanical behavior of bulk amorphous alloys reinforced by ductile particles at cryogenic temperatures. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 145506 (2006).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18Li, H.Q., Fan, C., Tao, K.X., Choo, H., and Liaw, P.K.: Compressive behavior of a Zr-based metallic glass at cryogenic temperatures. Adv. Mater. 18, 752 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Allen, S.M. and Thomas, E.L.: The Structure of Materials (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1999).Google Scholar
20Miracle, D.B.: A structural model for metallic glasses. Nat. Mater. 3, 697 (2004).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21Sheng, H.W., Luo, W.K., Alamgir, F.M., Bai, J.M., and Ma, E.: Atomic packing and short-to-medium-range order in metallic glasses. Nature 439, 419 (2006).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22Waseda, Y.: The Structure of Non-Crystalline Materials, Liquids and Amorphous Solids (McGraw-Hill International Book Co., New York, 1980).Google Scholar
23Sheng, H.W., He, J.H., and Ma, E.: Molecular dynamics simulation studies of atomic-level structures in rapidly quenched Ag-Cu nonequilibrium alloys. Phys. Rev. B 65, 184203 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24Kohary, K., Burlakov, V.M., Pettifor, D.G., and Nguyen-Manh, D.: Modeling In-Se amorphous alloys. Phys. Rev. B 71, 184203 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25Gruner, S., Kaban, I., Kleinhempl, R., Hoyer, W., Jovari, P., and Delaplane, R.G.: Short-range order and atomic clusters in liquid Cu-Sn alloys. J. Non-Cryst. Solids 351, 3490 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Fan, C., Choo, H., and Liaw, P.K.: Influences of Ta, Nb or Mo additions in Zr-based bulk metallic glasses on microstructure and thermal properties. Scripta Mater. 53, 1407 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27Peterson, P.F., Gutmann, M., Proffen, T., and Billinge, S.J.L.: PDFgetN: A user-friendly program to extract the total scattering structure function and the pair distribution function from neutron powder diffraction data. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 33, 1192 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28McGreevy, R.L.: Reverse Monte Carlo modelling. J. Phys. Condens. Matter. 13, R877 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29Proffen, T. and Neder, R.B.: DISCUS: A program for diffuse scattering and defect-structure simulation. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 30, 171 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30Proffen, T. and Neder, R.B.: DISCUS, a program for diffuse scattering and defect structure simulations—Update. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 32, 838 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31Spaepen, F.: A microscopic mechanism for steady state inhomogeneous flow in metallic glasses. Acta Metall. 25, 407 (1977).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32Argon, A.S.: Plastic deformation in metallic glasses. Acta Metall. 27, 47 (1979).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33Yang, B., Liu, C.T., and Nieh, T.G.: Unified equation for the strength of bulk metallic glasses. Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 221911 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34Johnson, W.L. and Samwer, K.: A universal criterion for plastic yielding of metallic glasses with a (T/T-g)(2/3) temperature dependence. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 195501 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35Gao, Y.F., Yang, B., and Nieh, T.G.: Thermomechanical instability analysis of inhomogeneous deformation in amorphous alloys. Acta Mater. (accepted).Google Scholar
36 ASM-International Properties and selection: Nonferrous alloys and special-purpose materials. Metals Handbook Vol. 2, Tenth Edition, P577-582, 11601165 (1991).Google Scholar
37Ott, R.T., Sansoz, F., Molinari, J.F., Almer, J., Ramesh, K.T., and Hufnagel, T.C.: Micromechanics of deformation of metallic-glass-matrix composites from in situ synchrotron strain measurements and finite element modeling. Acta Mater. 53, 1883 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
38Fan, C., Liaw, P.K., Wilson, T., Dmowski, W., Richardson, J.W., Proffen, Th., Choo, H., and Liu, C.T.: Structural model for bulk amorphous alloys. Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 111905 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
39Fan, C. and Inoue, A.: Influence of the liquid states on the crystallization process of nanocrystal-forming Zr-Cu-Pd-Al metallic glasses. Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, 3644 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
40Fan, C., Imafuku, M., Kurokawa, H., Inoue, A., and Haas, V.: Investigation of short-range order in nanocrystal-forming Zr60Cu20Pd10Al10 metallic glass and the mechanism of nanocrystal formation. Appl. Phys. Lett. 79, 1792 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
41Fan, C., Liaw, P.K., Wilson, T.W., Choo, H., Gao, Y.F., Proffen, Th., Richardson, J.W., and Liu, C.T.: Pair distribution function study and mechanical behavior of as-cast and structurally relaxed Zr-based bulk metallic glasses. Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 231920 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42Fan, C., Liaw, P.K., Haas, V., Wall, J.J., Choo, H., Inoue, A., and Liu, C.T.: Structures and mechanical behaviors of Zr55Cu35Al10 bulk amorphous alloys at ambient and cryogenic temperatures. Phys. Rev. B 74, 014205 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
43Pekarskaya, E., Kim, C.P., and Johnson, W.L.: In situ transmission electron microscopy studies of shear bands in a bulk metallic glass based composite. J. Mater. Res. 16, 2513 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
44Polk, D.E. and Turnbull, D.: Flow of melt and glass forms of metallic alloys. Acta Metall. 20, 493 (1972).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
45Fan, C., Kecskes, L., Jiao, T., Choo, H., Inoue, A., and Liaw, P.: Shear-band deformation in amorphous alloys and composites. Mater. Trans. 47, 817 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar