Plasticity enhancement in metallic glasses via aging-assisted ultrasonic vibrations
Plasticity enhancement in metallic glasses via aging-assisted ultrasonic vibrations
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摘要: The aging of glassy materials is an inevitable process leading to progressive property degradation. In metallic glasses (MGs), aging-induced property degradation poses a persistent challenge to their applications. Over the years, rejuvenating or even reversing the aged glasses remains a critical elusive goal. Here we report that ultrasonic vibration (UV) treatment can reverse aging in a Zr-based MG within 0.5 s, achieving plasticity up to 14.5% that is 1.5 times that of the as-cast MG. This intriguing plasticity enhancement results from a UV-induced higher-energy state, as evidenced by structural enthalpy recovery, boson peak restoration, and a more disordered structure revealed by the pair distribution functions. This higher-energy state can be properly explained through the framework of ‘anti-free volume defects’ with a high atomic packing density. Furthermore, we propose a novel ‘aging-assisted UV loading’ method: pre-aging stabilizes the MG, enabling subsequent UV to amplify plasticity. This strategy achieves exceptional plasticity improvement, demonstrating that controlled aging can paradoxically enhance material properties.Abstract: The aging of glassy materials is an inevitable process leading to progressive property degradation. In metallic glasses (MGs), aging-induced property degradation poses a persistent challenge to their applications. Over the years, rejuvenating or even reversing the aged glasses remains a critical elusive goal. Here we report that ultrasonic vibration (UV) treatment can reverse aging in a Zr-based MG within 0.5 s, achieving plasticity up to 14.5% that is 1.5 times that of the as-cast MG. This intriguing plasticity enhancement results from a UV-induced higher-energy state, as evidenced by structural enthalpy recovery, boson peak restoration, and a more disordered structure revealed by the pair distribution functions. This higher-energy state can be properly explained through the framework of ‘anti-free volume defects’ with a high atomic packing density. Furthermore, we propose a novel ‘aging-assisted UV loading’ method: pre-aging stabilizes the MG, enabling subsequent UV to amplify plasticity. This strategy achieves exceptional plasticity improvement, demonstrating that controlled aging can paradoxically enhance material properties.