Short communication
Atomistic model of amorphous materials
Cang Fana, b, P.K. Liawb and C.T. Liub
aSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, PR China
bDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Received 29 July 2008;
revised 16 September 2008;
accepted 18 September 2008.
Available online 26 November 2008.
Abstract
An atomistic model, the tight-bond cluster model, was constructed for amorphous materials. This model contains essentially three major parts: (I) clusters with tight bonding; (II) redefined loosely bonded free-volume regions between clusters; and (III) interconnecting zones, which interconnect the clusters. The reversible transformation between the free-volume regions and interconnecting zones around glass-transition temperature determines the amorphous solid and supercooled liquid status. The atomistic model presented in this short article also contributes to a fundamental understanding of the structure of amorphous materials at the atomic level as well as the relationship between the structure and mechanical and physical properties of amorphous metallic glasses in solid and supercooled liquid states.
Keywords: A. Bulk metallic glass; B. Phase transformations; D. Amorphous structures, atomic clusters; E. Simulations, Monte Carlo