Heat of evolution and structural analysis on the non-Newtonian viscous flow of Pd40Ni40P20 glassy alloy

Abstract The evolution of specific heat of a Pd 40 Ni 40 P 20 glassy alloy subjected to different degrees of non-Newtonian flow condition near the glass transition temperature, T g , was investigated by a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method. Three exothermic relaxation spectrums were observed in temperature dependence of the specific heat. One of the relaxations in T >490 K (= T g −95 K) strongly depended on the flow condition, on the other hand, the others did weakly. This relaxation has previously been reported to be due to the long-range disordering between metal and metalloid constituents. The local atomic structure causing the non-Newtonian flow is therefore expected to show modification among metal and metalloid elements. Using a X-ray diffraction method followed radial distribution function analysis, this modification is observed.