Deformation behavior of Zr₆₅Cu_17.5Ni₁₀Al_7.5 in superplastic forming with silicon mould: Simulation and application

Abstract

We investigated the deformation behaviors of Zr₆₅Cu_17.5Ni₁₀Al_7.5 in superplastic forming in silicon mould via numerical modeling and experiments. The data needed for the constitutive formulation were obtained from compressive tests to establish a material library for finite-element simulation using a DEFORM 3D software. A constant speed forming process of a micro gear was modeled where the loading force, feature size and amount of deformation in the micro gear in silicon mould were analyzed in detail for the optimal requirements of micro gear forming and the protection of silicon mould. Guided by the modeling parameters, an amorphous metal micro gear was successfully obtained by our home-made superplastic forming system with the optimized parameters (temperature of 683 K, top speed of 0.003 mm/s until the load force reaching limiting value at 1960 N, and a gradually decelerating process for holding the force to the end). Our work gives a good example for optimization of superplastic forming and fabrication of BMGs in microparts.

Keywords

bulk metallic glass / deformation / finite-element simulation / superplastic forming / silicon mould

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