The shock forming process of Cu50Zr50 metallic glasses studied via molecular dynamics simulation

The shock forming process of Cu ₅₀Zr ₅₀ metallic glasses is investigated via the classical molecular dynamics method. The velocity and density profiles are presented to describe the shock wave propagation, and the displacement vector is used to trace the atomic flow. The shock forming process is accompanied by the evolution of the internal short-range order of the metallic glasses. Beside, the influence of piston velocity and mould size on the shock forming process is explored. It is found that the suitable shock pressure is in the range of 18–30 GPa, with which the filling rate could be higher than 85%. A larger fillet radius or a smaller mould opening size is advantageous to alleviate the residual stress concentration. The sample obtained by shock forming exhibits better plasticity compared with the as-cast sample, which could be explained by the change in the number of the dominated Voronoi polyhedra.