Investigation of the thermal and neutron irradiation response of BAM-11 bulk metallic glass

J. Brechtl, H. Wang, N. A.P.K. Kumar, T. Yang, Y. R. Lin, H. Bei, J. Neuefeind, W. Dmowski, S. J. Zinkle

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Abstract

Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 (BAM-11) bulk metallic glass was irradiated by neutrons to a fluence of 1.4 × 1020 n/cm2 (E > 0.1 MeV) (0.1 displacements per atom, dpa) at a temperature of ∼70 °C and then analyzed using multiple mechanical property and structural characterization techniques. Nanoindentation hardness measurements revealed that irradiation led to softening and a reduced Young's modulus in the alloy while annealing at 300–325 °C caused an increase in the hardness and modulus. Neutron diffraction results indicated that primary knock-on events caused rejuvenation (structural disordering) while annealing resulted in structural relaxation. Furthermore, it was found that annealing after irradiation reversed the disordering effects caused by the irradiation. The increased disordering in the alloy during irradiation is thought to be attributed to the enhanced free volume content caused by the neutron collision cascades in the matrix. Indeed, immersion density measurements revealed that irradiation led to a decrease in the density of the alloy. This decrease in the macroscopic density was linked to an increase in the structural disorder of the alloy while an increase in the density corresponded to an increasing degree of order. Additionally, synchrotron X-ray diffraction related the structural relaxation of the alloy to a loss of ductility, which is in agreement with the literature. Overall, an increase in the structural disorder in the sample is linked to a softening of the alloy and to a higher concentration of soft-zone defects in the glass.

Original languageEnglish
Article number151771
JournalJournal of Nuclear Materials
Volume526
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2019

Funding

This research was sponsored by the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC and grant # DE-SC0006661 with the University of Tennessee. H.W and W.D acknowledge U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering Division. The neutron diffraction utilized ORNL's Nanoscale-Ordered Materials Diffractometer (NOMAD) at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) User Facility, which is sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction was carried out at the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility, operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. Finally, the authors would also like to thank Drs. Maxim Gussev and Takeshi Egami for helpful discussions regarding the nanoindentation, 3-point bend test, and neutron diffraction experiments. This research was sponsored by the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences , U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC and grant # DE-SC0006661 with the University of Tennessee . H.W and W.D acknowledge U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering Division . The neutron diffraction utilized ORNL's Nanoscale-Ordered Materials Diffractometer (NOMAD) at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) User Facility, which is sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy . Synchrotron X-ray diffraction was carried out at the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility, operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357 . Finally, the authors would also like to thank Drs. Maxim Gussev and Takeshi Egami for helpful discussions regarding the nanoindentation, 3-point bend test, and neutron diffraction experiments. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).

Keywords

  • Annealing
  • Irradiation effects
  • Metallic glasses
  • Microstructure
  • Nanoindentation
  • Neutron diffraction

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