Annealing metallic glasses above Tg in order to accelerate the relaxation process in molecular dynamics simulations

To bridge the gap between nano- and micro-seconds molecular dynamics simulations and milliseconds timescale phenomena in metallic glasses remains an area of active research. Through systematic control of the annealing parameters, we have been able to simulate metallic glasses resembling structures usually obtained by quenching at cooling rates used in the melt spinning process. Density, local order, and local entropy calculations predict metallic glasses with structures prepared at cooling rates orders of magnitude lower than those typically realized in atomistic modeling. Hence, annealing above T-g is an alternative to melt quenching simulations and offers the prospect of modeling well relaxed glassy structures that were not achievable before in molecular dynamics simulations.

Automated summary

Bridging the gap between nano- and micro-seconds molecular dynamics simulations and milliseconds timescale phenomena in metallic glasses is a challenging research area. By systematically controlling annealing parameters, the researchers have successfully simulated metallic glasses with structures similar to those obtained by rapid cooling. Density, local order, and local entropy calculations show that these simulated structures have cooling rates orders of magnitude lower than those achieved in atomistic modeling. This approach offers a new way to model well relaxed glassy structures that were previously unattainable in molecular dynamics simulations.