Thermal activation analysis of the structural and phase transformations in the Zr-Cu-Nb amorphous alloy

Abstract

In the present work, the procedure of the estimation of the thermal activation parameters from the data of dilatometric measurements and the results of its application to the Zr-Cu-Nb amorphous alloy discussed. The determination of the thermal activation parameters of the processes occurring in materials under known temperature-force conditions can be useful for the identification of the structural mechanisms of phase transformations and the evolution of defect structure. We used the data of dilatometric measurements for evaluating the effective activation energy. This method exhibits some advantages over the conventional one due to the design features of dilatometers. First, it ensures the precise measurement of strains; second, the assigned temperature regime is very precisely maintained both at the stage of heating and upon isothermal holding; third, it ensures a high-speed continuous record of the experimental data. The developed method of evaluating the effective activation energy from the results of dilatometric experiments provides statistically reliable results. The data of the photometric analysis of structure images are in accordance with the results of dilatometric experiments