High pressure heat treatment tuning cavitation behavior in FeP metallic glass

The origin of cavitation in brittle metallic glasses (MGs) is traced to the high degree of atomic density fluctuations. Purposely tuning the inherent structure to suppress cavitation has been a longstanding concern. Here we investigate the effect of high pressure heat treatment (HPHT) on the cavitation performance of a brittle Fe80P20 MG through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We found that HPHT can induce rejuvenation and effectively suppress cavitation. The spatial heterogeneity reduces with the applied pressure and temperature, resulting in a relatively uniform distribution of P atoms. Our analysis demonstrates that the local atomic structure can be excited from a liquid-like state to a solid-like one by HPHT, where larger stress is required to initiate cavitation. This work provides new insight into the understanding of the relationship between spatial heterogeneity and cavitation behavior of MGs.

Automated summary

This study investigates the effect of high pressure heat treatment (HPHT) on cavitation performance of a brittle Fe80P20 metallic glass (MG) through molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that HPHT can improve the cavitation resistance of MG and induce a more uniform distribution of P atoms. It is found that HPHT can change the local atomic structure from a liquid-like state to a solid-like state, resulting in an increased stress threshold for initiating cavitation.