Characterization of mechanical relaxation in a Cu–Zr–Al metallic glass

• Mechanical relaxation dynamics of a Cu–Zr–Al metallic glass fully characterized.
• Mechanical spectroscopy combined with static stress-relaxation measurements.
• Alpha-relaxation process described by a Cole–Cole function.
• Relaxation times following Arrhenius and Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann behaviors.
• Mechanical relaxation described without the presence of a secondary relaxation.

The temperature dependence of the relaxation times of Cu46Zr46Al8 glass was measured by means of mechanical spectroscopy and static stress-relaxation measurements. The weak intensity of secondary relaxation in this alloy allows us to correlate the characteristic times of dynamic and static measurements of primary relaxation. The glassy dynamics of an isoconfigurational state are found to follow an Adam–Gibbs–Vogel expression with the glassy state defined by a fictive temperature. The combination of both measurements proves that, in the frequency domain, the relaxation response can be well described by a single relaxation function above and below the glass transition. The change in relaxation times as function of the fictive temperature and the corresponding effects on the mechanical behavior are estimated and discussed.