Abstract
The mechanical properties at room temperature and the dynamic mechanical properties at different temperatures of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 metallic glass composite were investigated. Results show that the tensile strength at room temperature of this metallic glass composite is about 1350 MPa and its fracture strain is approximately 0.13. With increasing the temperature, the state of the metallic glass composite changes from elastic to viscoelastic. The physical parameters, such as loss factor and correlation coefficient, are introduced to analyze the dynamic mechanical behavior under the framework of quasi-point defects model, and the theoretical curve fits well with the experiment data. Therefore, the quasi-point defects model can well describe the dynamic mechanical behavior of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 bulk metallic glass composite at different temperatures.
Science Press
Benefitting from the long/short-range disordered atomic configurations and absence of the defects in conventional alloys (grain boundary, dislocation), bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) show excellent mechanical properties, such as high hardness, large elastic area, and outstanding formabilit
Consequently, many efforts have been devoted to ameliorate the ductility of BMGs, especially their tensile plasticity. The methods include optimizing specimen shap
Due to different preparation methods, the in-situ metallic glass composites have perfect chemical bonding between the crystalline phases and metallic glass matrix. Adding pre-designed β-phase stable elements can promote the formation of some β-stabilizer dendrites during the solidification of metallic glasses. Subsequently, the in-situ metallic glass composites with metallic glass matrix and the secondary phases (B2 phases or β-stabilizer dendrites) can be obtaine
In this research, the in-situ Ti-based BMGC Ti48Zr20Nb12-Cu5Be15 (at%) with light weight and high strength was used to investigate the mechanical relaxation behavior under continuous heating. Because the composite matrix is amorphous, the quasi-point defect model was proposed to analyze the experiment results for study of physical properties.
The alloy ingot with the nominal composition of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 was prepared by arc-melting. The mixture of high purity elements (the purities of elements Ti, Zr, Nb, Cu, and Be are over 99.95%) was placed in a water-cooled copper crucible and the in-situ suction casting was conducted in a copper mold under the purified argon atmosphere. The alloy ingot was re-melted several times before suction casting to ensure the homogeneity. Then BMGC plates with the dimension of 50 mm×30 mm×3 mm were fabricated.
The nature phase of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 BMGC specimen was identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) with a diffractometer (2θ=20°~80°) using monochromatic Cu Kα radiation (Philips X’Pert Pro). The working condition was 40 kV and 30 mA for the X-ray tube and the scanning rate was 0.02° per step. The thermal properties such as glass transition temperature Tg and onset crystallization temperature Tx of BMGC were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC, NETZSCH STA 449C) with a heating rate of 20 K/min under argon atmosphere. The microstructural features of as-cast BMGC were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM, EVO 18, Zeiss, Germany). The specimens were etched by an etchant (volume ratio of HNO3:HF:ethanal=1:1:8) before the microstructure observation.
The mechanical property of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 BMGC was studied through the uniaxial tensile tests at room temperature under the strain rate of 1.0×1
The dynamic mechanical behavior of the Ti-based BMGC was investigated using mechanical spectromete
The phase components, microstructure, and thermal parameters of the as-cast BMGC were confirmed by XRD, SEM, and DSC. Fig.1a shows the phase constitution of the as-cast Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 BMGC. Three sharp crystalline peaks are identified as the characteristic peaks of β-Ti phase, indicating that Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 BMGCs are composed of β-Ti and amorphous phases. SEM image of BMGC is shown in Fig.1b. It can be seen that there are only two phases in BMGC and the secondary phase dendrites (β-Ti phase) are distributed evenly in the glassy matrix, which is in good agreement with the result of XRD pattern. According to Fig.1b, the dendrite volume fraction is approximately 46.37%.
Fig.2 displays DSC curve of the as-cast Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 BMGC at a heating rate of 20 K/min. The Tg and Tx of the as-cast BMGC are marked in the curve as 633 and 725 K, respectively. It can also be noticed that there is a slight exothermic process before Tg (circle area in Fig.2), suggesting that a new crystalline phase may form before Tg of Ti-based BMGC.


The tensile property of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 BMGC was measured at room temperature, and the stress-strain curve is exhibited in

Fig.3 Tensile stress-strain curve of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 metallic glass composite at room temperature
Dynamic mechanical properties of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 BMGC were analyzed through the storage modulus G′ and loss modulus G′′. These moduli G′ and G′′ are normalized by unrelaxed modulus Gu, which is assumed to be equal to G′ at room temperature. Then the normalized storage modulus G′/Gu and the normalized loss modulus G′′/Gu are considered as a function of temperature under a fixed driving frequency of 0.3 Hz at a heating rate of 3 K/min, as shown in Fig.4. The typical dynamic mechanical behavior of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 BMGC is similar to that of other BMG

achieved. Therefore, the loss modulus G′′ is increased and the storage modulus G′ is decreased slightly with increasing the temperature. However, the entire process is slightly different from the variation tendency of typical BMG
To further understand the dynamic mechanical behavior of BMGC from the perspective of atomic motion, the quasi-point defects mode
(1) |
where t0 is time scale parameter, τβ is the mean time required for a structural unit jumping under thermal activation, and χ is correlation coefficient of 0~1. τβ can be described by Arrhenius law, as follows:
(2) |
where Ea is the activation energy required for the migration of a structural unit, τ0 is pre-exponential time, T is the temperature, and k is the gas constant. The correlation coefficient χ corresponds to the quasi-point defect concentration. When χ=0, the atomic arrangement is in maximum order, corresponding to the perfect crystal, i.e., the movement of any structural unit requires the cooperative movement of all the other units. When χ=1, the atomic arrangement is in maximum disorder, corresponding to the perfect gas. It also means that the movement of any structural unit is independent of any other structural unit.
The loss factor can be expressed as follows:
(3) |
(4) |
where λ is a constant and ω is driving frequency.
The microstructure of amorphous material can remain frozen or isoconfigurational state when the temperature is below the glass transition temperature Tg, and the correlation coefficient χ is constant, presenting the Arrhenius behavior. In contrast, the metastable thermodynamic equilibrium occurs when the temperature is higher than glass transition temperature, and the correlation coefficient χ is increased with increasing the temperature. Therefore,
(5) |
(6) |

At a fixed temperature, the corresponding activation energy Ea of a certain material is fixed, and the average time required for the transition of atoms or molecules in the material is also fixed. Thus, the first and third terms on the right side in

Furthermore, the relationship between loss factor and temperature at a given frequency can also be obtained from
(7) |
However, when the temperature approaches or becomes higher than the glass transition temperature, the temperature dependence of correlation coefficient χ should be considered. The relationship between correlation coefficient and temperature is shown in Fig.6a. Therefore, the correlation coefficient χ can be expressed as a general quadratic function of temperature T: . So the expression of loss factor at high temperature can be expressed as follows:
(8) |
where Ci (i=1, 2) is the constant related to Tg,
1) The tensile strength of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 bulk metallic glass composites (BMGCs) is about 1350 MPa, and the fracture strain is approximately 0.13, which shows great strength and plasticity in Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 BMGC.
2) With increasing the temperature, the state of BMGC can be divided into three regions. Region I: when the temperature is less than 627 K, the state of BMGC is mainly elastic; Region II: when the temperature is 627~820 K, BMGC is mainly in viscoelastic state; Region III: due to the crystallization of amorphous matrix and the softening of dendrite, the loss modulus is increased and the storage modulus is decreased slightly.
3) When the temperature approaches the glass transition temperature Tg, the correlation coefficient χ is increased with increasing the temperature because the amorphous matrix is in superplastic state. When the temperature is over Tg, χ is decreased sharply due to the crystallization.
4) The loss factor has different functional relationships with the temperature. At room temperature, the loss factor has a linear relationship with the temperature. When the temperature approaches or becomes higher than the glass transition temperature, the loss factor has a quadratic function relationship with the temperature. The quasi-point defects model can well describe the influence of temperature on the dynamic mechanical behavior of Ti48Zr20Nb12Cu5Be15 BMGC.
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