Metallic Glass Research
Prof. Todd C. Hufnagel
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Johns Hopkins University
If you're not familiar with metallic glasses, please have a look at the background section. Generally speaking,
our research emphasizes the use of advanced structural characterization techniques to solve challenging problems relating to structure-properties
relationships in metallic glasses.
Here is a brief overview of the things we're presently working on. The source of funding for each project is list in parentheses:
- Kinetics of phase separation and crystallization in bulk metallic glass-forming alloys
Glass-forming alloys have quite complicated phase transformations; since there are several elements (typically four or five), there
several different crystalline phases can form, depending on the processing conditions. We study these transformations using
anomalous small-angle x-ray scattering, field ion microscopy, and in situ wide angle x-ray scattering. The long-term goal is
to use our understanding of crystallization to enable us to design new alloys with improved glass-forming ability. (Department of Energy,
Office of Basic Energy Sciences)
- Deformation and failure of metallic glasses under dynamic loading
One potential application of metallic glasses is to replace depleted uranium (DU) as armor-penetrating projectiles. (DU has some potentially
serious drawbacks, including toxicity and radioactivity.) To do so, however, will require an understanding of how metallic glasses behave under
rapid ("dynamic") loading. The goal of this project is to develop this fundamental understanding.
(Army Research Laboratory)
- Shear localization in metallic glasses
One of the most interesting features of the mechanical behavior of metallic glasses is the tendency for plastic deformation to be highly
localized into very narrow regions called shear bands. Figuring out just what a shear band is, however, and how it behaves, is quite a
challenge. We use transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study the internal structure of shear bands, with the goal of obtaining insights
into shear band initiation and propagation. (National Science Foundation)
- Joining of amorphous alloys using reactive multilayers
Joining of components is a critical issue for any structural material. Together with Prof. Tim Weihs, we're exploring the use of self-propagating
exothermic reactions in multilayer foils to weld bulk amorphous alloys.
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