skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Mechanical glass transition revealed by the fracture toughness of metallic glasses

Journal Article · · Nature Communications

Abstract The fracture toughness of glassy materials remains poorly understood. In large part, this is due to the disordered, intrinsically non-equilibrium nature of the glass structure, which challenges its theoretical description and experimental determination. We show that the notch fracture toughness of metallic glasses exhibits an abrupt toughening transition as a function of a well-controlled fictive temperature ( T f ), which characterizes the average glass structure. The ordinary temperature, which has been previously associated with a ductile-to-brittle transition, is shown to play a secondary role. The observed transition is interpreted to result from a competition between the T f -dependent plastic relaxation rate and an applied strain rate. Consequently, a similar toughening transition as a function of strain rate is predicted and demonstrated experimentally. The observed mechanical toughening transition bears strong similarities to the ordinary glass transition and explains the previously reported large scatter in fracture toughness data and ductile-to-brittle transitions.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0004889; AC02-06CH11357; SC0016179; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1463919
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1468283
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Vol. 9 Journal Issue: 1; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 77 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (34)

The fracture toughness of bulk metallic glasses journal April 2010
Microstructure and ductile–brittle transition of as-cast Zr-based bulk glass alloys under compressive testing journal November 2001
Signatures of distinct dynamical regimes in the energy landscape of a glass-forming liquid journal June 1998
Determination of the fictive temperature for a hyperquenched glass journal May 2002
Intrinsic plasticity or brittleness of metallic glasses journal February 2005
Stress-Temperature Scaling for Steady-State Flow in Metallic Glasses journal May 2010
Metallic glasses as structural materials journal February 2006
Atomistic free-volume zones and inelastic deformation of metallic glasses journal August 2010
Ductile-to-brittle transition in a Ti-based bulk metallic glass journal June 2009
Critical fictive temperature for plasticity in metallic glasses journal February 2013
“Work-Hardenable” Ductile Bulk Metallic Glass journal May 2005
On factors influencing the ductile-to-brittle transition in a bulk metallic glass journal June 2009
Kinetic and thermodynamic studies of the fragility of bulk metallic glass forming liquids journal September 2010
On the fracture morphology of metallic glasses journal May 1975
Structural heterogeneity induced plasticity in bulk metallic glasses: From well-relaxed fragile glass to metal-like behavior journal October 2013
A Model of Structural Relaxation in Glass journal October 1971
Thermodynamics of The Pd 43 Ni 10 Cu 27 P 20 Bulk Metallic Glass Forming Alloy journal January 2003
Tensile Plasticity in Metallic Glasses with Pronounced β Relaxations journal January 2012
Characteristic temperatures of enthalpy relaxation in glass journal February 2008
Enthalpy recovery and free volume relaxation in a Zr44Ti11Ni10Cu10Be25 bulk metallic glass journal June 2011
Formation of monatomic metallic glasses through ultrafast liquid quenching journal August 2014
Thermodynamics, kinetics, and crystallization of Pt57.3Cu14.6Ni5.3P22.8 bulk metallic glass journal February 2007
Ductile to brittle transition in the Zr41.2Ti13.75Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 bulk metallic glass journal August 2006
Test sample geometry for fracture toughness measurements of bulk metallic glasses journal February 2018
Relation Between Inelastic Deformability and Thermal Expansion of Glass in its Annealing Range* journal September 1946
Dynamics of viscoplastic deformation in amorphous solids journal June 1998
Metallic Glasses journal March 1995
Universal structural parameter to quantitatively predict metallic glass properties journal December 2016
Plastic deformation in metallic glasses journal January 1979
An atomically quantized hierarchy of shear transformation zones in a metallic glass journal March 2011
Effects of free volume changes and residual stresses on the fatigue and fracture behavior of a Zr–Ti–Ni–Cu–Be bulk metallic glass journal February 2008
Soft spots and their structural signature in a metallic glass journal September 2014
Effect of thermal history and chemical composition on hardness of silicate glasses journal April 2010
Dependence of the Fictive Temperature of Glass on Cooling Rate journal January 1976

Similar Records

Related Subjects