Effects of electropulsing on the glass transition and structural relaxation of a Cu60Zr28Ti12 metallic glass

The effects of electric pulsing current treatment on the glass transition and crystallization of a Cu60Zr28Ti12 metallic glass have been studied. It has been found that after electropulsing treatment the onset glass transition temperature Tg, the onset crystallization temperature Tx, and the first crystallization peak temperature Tp of the Cu60Zr28Ti12 glassy alloy are reduced, while supercooled liquid range ΔT is almost unchanged. It indicates that the glass transition and crystallization of the Cu60Zr28Ti12 glassy alloy are promoted by electropulsing treatment. The Vicker's hardness of electropulsed Cu60Zr28Ti12 glassy alloy is about 870 kg/mm2, much higher than those of the as-quenched glass and sub-Tg isothermally annealed glassy alloys. The results show that the effect of pulsing current on structural relaxation is much stronger than that resulted by isothermal annealing. It suggests that treating the glassy alloys with pulsing current is a possible way to optimize the properties of metallic glasses.