Structural and mechanical evolution of metallic glasses
There is a high interest to understand the response of metallic (amorphous) glasses to rapid heating and plastic deformation. These two topics are addressed in this project using correlative electron microscopy and atom probe tomography.
The fabrication and rapid Joule heating of the metallic glass ribbons are done at IFW Dresden (in collaboration with Dr. Ivan Kaban). The mechanisms of shear band formation and propagation is a focus area as well (of both the as cast and the metallic glass matrix composite due to the formation of crystalline phases).
Atom probe and TEM investigations of a deformed Al88-Y7-Fe5 amorphous alloy show two distinct types of shear band segments, one enriched by Al and the other by Fe (one of such segments is shown in the atom-probe data below). The evolution of these shear band segments into a shear band network that accommodates the deformation is of great interest and is currently been investigated.
