Interpretation of viscous deformation of Zr-based bulk metallic glass alloys based on Nabarro-Herring creep model

Abstract

Superplastic-like viscous deformation of bulk metallic glass alloys around the glass transition temperature (Tg) was analyzed based on the Nabarro-Herring creep model, a classical creep model, where the diffusional motion of atoms or vacancies through the lattice (atomic configuration) is considered. The amorphous matrix of bulk metallic glasses that has a randomly-packed atomic configuration was assumed to behave in a manner similar to the grain boundary in polycrystalline metals so as to approximate the diffusivity of the major constituent element. In spite of rough approximation of the parameters in the Nabarro-Herring creep equation, a reasonable value of the diffusion path (d) could be obtained from the experimentally-obtained metal flow data, including the steady state stress and the strain rate. Due to the absence of vacancy sources such as grain boundaries in homogeneous metallic glasses, the diffusion path, which, in polycrystalline materials, generally is the average distance between vacancy sources such as grain boundaries, was considered in this work as the average distance between tunneling centers in bulk metallic glass alloys. The calculated diffusion path was comparable to the density of tunneling centers around Tg, proposed by M. H. Cohen and G. S. Grest based on free volume theory. The calculated diffusion path showed monotonous decrease with temperature over Tg for Zr-based bulk metallic glass alloys. Based on this analysis, a schematic model for viscous deformation of bulk metallic glass was proposed.