Additive manufacturing of bulk metallic glasses: Fundamental principle, current/future developments and applications

Abstract

• Review the current development and future prospective of the state-of-the-art additive manufacturing technologies in large scale Bul k Metallic Glasses . • Identify the key fabrication parameters effect on glass forming ability of the current additive manufacturing technologies. • Outline the direction of advanced Bulk Metallic Glass development with high glass forming ability. • Provide a road map to develop an additive manufacturing technology which is capable of producing large scale bulk metallic glasses with lower glass forming ability. As an advanced manufacturing technique, the advent of additive manufacturing (AM) has opened a new horizon of alternative ways to tackle the challenge of fundamental limits for manufacturing bulk metallic glasses (BMGs). In particular, selective laser melting (SLM), direct metal deposition (DMD), electron beam melting (EBM), and laser foil printing (LFP) have been used for producing BMGs with dimensions larger than what is possible using conventional techniques such as melt-spinning, suction-casting, die-casting, etc. In this review, we analyzed the current status, issues, structural evolution, and key properties of BMGs based on these emerging AM technologies. The aim is to outline a direction for the development of BMGs using AM technology, establishing a fundamental principle to optimize processing parameters for designing alloy compositions with the high glass-forming ability (GFA), and thermal stability against crystallization. This will provide the fundamental science underpinning the future development of AM technology in the fabrication of high-density, defect-free, and completely amorphous alloy components and devices.