Bulk Metallic Glasses and Amorphous Alloys for Structural and Magnetic Applications
This community investigates the formation, stability, and mechanical behavior of non-crystalline metals, focusing on how to create these materials at scale and how they perform under thermal and magnetic stress.
The work centers on bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), particularly zirconium-based and iron-based systems. Researchers examine glass-forming ability, crystallization kinetics, and thermal stability to understand why these alloys remain amorphous. A significant portion of the literature addresses soft magnetic properties, including saturation polarization and high-frequency performance, alongside mechanical testing such as fracture toughness and plasticity. Methods include molecular dynamics simulations to model atomic structure and finite element analysis for mechanical behavior. The goal is to tailor composition and processing conditions—such as cooling rates and annealing—to achieve specific structural and functional properties.
The community’s output is distributed across multiple elements, with the largest shares of research found in yttrium (0.1%), boron (0.1%), and xenon (0.1%) research. Zirconium contributes 42 papers to this group, while titanium and iron each contribute 47 and 43 papers respectively.
The group comprises 1,544 papers, published primarily in the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, and Journal of Applied Physics.
Recent work continues to focus on the fundamental physics of these materials, including the shear-induced amorphization of niobium, the structural evolution of zirconium metallic glass under various quenching conditions, and the development of zirconium-based alloys with improved industrial producibility and fracture toughness.