不透明玻璃显现出的曙光——块体金属玻璃的发现与应用

LIGHT THROUGH OPAQUE GLASS——THE DISCOVERY AND APPLICATIONS OF BULK METALLIC GLASS

在足够高的冷却速度下 ,如同其他大多数物质一样 ,金属合金熔体在冷却到室温的过程中能够经过玻璃化转变过程变成非晶态固体———金属玻璃 .金属玻璃因其具有许多优异和独特的物理、化学和力学性能而一直受到很大的关注 .在过去 ,由于玻璃形成能力的限制 ,金属合金只能制成厚度为数十微米的薄带状金属玻璃 ,因而其应用范围受到极大的限制 .通过对金属合金的组成、熔体的过冷与稳定性及玻璃形成能力的关系研究 ,人们用常规的方法在较低的冷却速度下就能在许多金属合金体系中形成三维尺度都达毫米至数厘米的块体金属玻璃 ,这为金属玻璃获得广泛的应用奠定了基础 .

With rapid enough cooling, a metallic melt can change like other matter into an amorphous solid, i.e., metallic glass, through a glass transition. Metallic glass has attracted much attention since its discovery because of its excellent and novel physical, chemical and mechanical properties. In the past, metallic glass could only be produced in thin strips due to its low glass formation ability, and thus its application was restricted. By studying the relation-ships between the alloy components, undercooling and stability of the melt, and glass formation ability, bulk metallic glass of sizes from millimeters to several centimeters can be obtained in many alloy systems by convenient methods and with low cooling rates. This has laid a foundation for the wide application of metallic glass.