CAREER: Interface Engineered Amorphous Alloys for Thermoplastic Forming of Ductile Bulk Metallic Glasses

Suny At Stony Brook, Stony Brook NY

Investigators

Abstract

Metallic glasses have evolved into a new class of high-strength engineering materials with compelling benefits for the aerospace, electronics, and automotive industries. However, their technological utility has been hindered by a propensity for localized failure in tension and limited processing routes for bulk production. This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award supports research to engineer amorphous alloys structures with enhanced ductility and formability for the production of bulk metallic glass sheets. Deformation behavior and its dependence on microstructural variables will be elucidated through synergistic computational and experimental research activities. For the first time, interface engineered bulk metallic glass sheets will be synthesized through additive spray manufacturing, which will provide a myriad of new opportunities for the design and production of metallic glass components through thermoplastic forming. Research activities are integrated into new educational initiatives that advance the engagement of underrepresented students in minority participation programs, provide curriculum enrichment for engineering majors, and facilitate the establishment of a sustainable mechanism for interfacing with regional high schools. This CAREER award supports fundamental research to understand the mechanisms underpinning strain delocalization in interface engineered amorphous alloys containing intergranular regions of excess free volume. The guiding hypothesis is shear localization in metallic glasses can be interrupted by regions of excess free volume that promote the distributed nucleation of many subcritical shear bands, thus producing a more homogenous plastic response via elimination of a dominant shear front. The research team will perform molecular dynamics simulations of shear localization collectively with advanced characterization and nanomechanical testing of interface engineered amorphous alloys to elucidate the role of interfacial structure and amorphous grain size in the mechanics of strain delocalization. Innovations in additive spray manufacturing will be devised to enable transformational microstructures that effectively delocalize the accumulation of plastic strain via distributed microplasticity. A chief societal impact of this research is the ability to produce ductile amorphous alloy sheets via additive spray manufacturing that can be used to revolutionize the sheet metal industry as well as produce bulk metallic glass components through net-shape thermoplastic forming processes.