Prediction of pressure-promoted thermal rejuvenation in metallic glasses

Rejuvenation is the structural excitation of glassy materials,and is a promising approach for improving the macroscopic deformability of metallic glasses.This atomistic study proposes the application of compressive hydrostatic pressure during the glass-forming quenching process and demonstrates highly rejuvenated glass states that have not been attainable without the application of pressure.Surprisingly,the pressure-promoted rejuvenation process increases the characteristic short-and mediumrange order,even though it leads to a higher-energy glassy state.This‘local order’–‘energy’relation is completely opposite to conventional thinking regarding the relation,suggesting the presence of a well-ordered high-pressure glass/high-energy glass phase.We also demonstrate that the rejuvenated glass made by the pressure-promoted rejuvenation exhibits greater plastic performance than as-quenched glass,and greater strength and stiffness than glass made without the application of pressure.It is thus possible to tune the mechanical properties of glass using the pressure-promoted rejuvenation technique.

Mechanical properties of Fe-rich Si alloy from Hamiltonian

The physical origins of the mechanical properties of Fe-rich Si alloys are investigated by combining electronic structure calculations with statistical mechanics means such as the cluster variation method,molecular dynamics simulation,etc,applied to homogeneous and heterogeneous systems.Firstly,we examined the elastic properties based on electronic structure calculations in a homogeneous system and attributed the physical origin of the loss of ductility with increasing Si content to the combined effects of magneto-volume and D03 ordering.As a typical example of a heterogeneity forming a microstructure,we focus on grain boundaries,and segregation behavior of Si atoms is studied through high-precision electronic structure calculations.Two kinds of segregation sites are identified:looser and tighter sites.Depending on the site,different segregation mechanisms are revealed.Finally,the dislocation behavior in the Fe-Si alloy is investigated mainly by molecular dynamics simulations combined with electronic structure calculations.The solid-solution hardening and softening are interpreted in terms of two kinds of energy barriers for kink nucleation and migration on a screw dislocation line.Furthermore,the clue to the peculiar work hardening behavior is discussed based on kinetic Monte Carlo simulations by focusing on the preferential selection of slip planes triggered by kink nucleation.