Thermal properties of metallic glasses: Heating rate dependence and their correlation

The thermal properties of nine amorphous compositions were investigated respectively by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). DSC tests reveal that, for each composition, the characteristic temperatures and the width of the supercooled liquid region (SLR) explicitly depends on heating rate, i.e., they increase as heating rate increases; in contrast, the heat enthalpy at crystallization appears to be independent of heating rate with an exception for the Zr-based specimen. Nevertheless, the larger characteristic temperatures generally correspond to the larger heat enthalpy and the wider glass transition region. Moreover, the SLR width is associated with the activation energy for the operation of a shear transformation zone. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.