Relaxation Kinetics of Bulk Metallic Glasses below Glass Transition Temperature

The free volume relaxation just under the glass transition region was investigated by the high-resolution density measurement using the bulk metallic glasses with the compositions of Pd40Ni40P20 and Zr55Cu30Ni5Al10. The relaxation process was well described by a stretched exponential function with Kohlrausch exponent values less than unity. The reduced free volumes in an as-quenched state were estimated as 0.0117 and 0.0353 for Pd40Ni40P20 glass and Zr55Cu30Ni5Al10 glass, respectively. The specific heat curves Cp(T) for Pd42.5Cu30Ni7.5P20 alloy were obtained for the supercooled liquid, the equilibrium liquid and the crystallized alloy. The isenthalpic Kauzmann temperature TKH and isentropic Kauzmann temperature TKS were estimated as 471 K and 522 K, respectively, from the specific heat data.