Relationship between thermal expansion coefficient and glass transition temperature in metallic glasses

The thermal expansion coefficients of 13 metallic glasses were measured using a thermo-mechanical analyser. A unique correlation was found between the linear thermal expansion coefficient and the glass transition temperature—their product is nearly constant ∼8.24 × 10−3. If one assumes the Debye expression for thermal activation, the total linear thermal expansion up to glass transition temperature (Tg) is reduced to 6 × 10−3, nearly 25% of that at the fusion of pure metals.