A metallic glass composite: Phase-field simulations and experimental analysis of microstructure evolution

摘要

The growth process of a crystalline dendritic solid phase from an undercooled melt in the metallic glass composite Zr-Ti-Nb-Ni-Cu-Be is analyzed by experimental investigations and by adaptive finite element simulations based on a multicomponent phase-field model. The phase transition: L(liquid) → S(dendrite) + M(matrix) can be described by considering a pseudo-ternary system of late transition metals A = (Zr, Ti, Nb), of early transition metals B = (Ni, Cu) and of the component C = (Be). Scanning and transmission electron microscopy are employed to experimentally determine structural properties of the two-phase system and to provide concentration distributions of the components across the dendrite/matrix interface. The computed and experimentally observed microstructures, length scales and chemical compositions are in good agreement.