Structural rejuvenation in a Zr-based bulk metallic glass via electropulsing treatment

Structural rejuvenation is a fascinating issue of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs). In this paper, we use the electropulsing treatment (EPT) to rejuvenate the atomic packing in a Zr-45(Cu4.5/5.5Ag1/5.5)(48)Al-7 BMG, which remains amorphous after undergoing fast heating and cooling. It is found that the voltages less than 110 V have little rejuvenation effect on BMGs. However, the discharging at 130 V greatly reduces the density, modulus, and hardness while generating more excess free volume and enhancing the beta-relaxation. The changes in properties of EPT samples are almost consistent with the variations of total content and average size of free volume. Our work provides an efficient way to alter the structure and properties of BMGs.

Automated summary

Structural rejuvenation of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) using electropulsing treatment (EPT) was studied in this paper. It was found that voltages below 110 V had little rejuvenation effect on BMGs, while discharging at 130 V significantly reduced density, modulus, and hardness while generating more excess free volume. The changes in properties of EPT samples were consistent with variations in total content and average size of free volume, providing an efficient way to alter the structure and properties of BMGs.