Applications of Amorphous Metallic Fibers as Reinforcement Materials

Nowadays, extensive study of micro-scale metallic fibers of various kinds of materials has revealed that they would improve performance and extend functionality of bulk materials [1,2]. At the same time, Amorphous metallic fibers (AMFs) have generated a lot of interest and found applications as reinforcement added to other materials due to intriguing fundamental effects they exhibit, including higher tensile strength and higher number of fibers per unit volume in comparison to ordinary steel fibers [3,4]. The tensile strength of some AMFs almost exceeds that of glass fiber, carbon fiber and piano wire, such as Fe75Si10B15 AMFs, which can reach 3570 MPa [5]. As a representative of high strength materials, AMFs were first developed over 60 years ago and have been widely studied all over the world, since the amorphous alloys are of chemical homogeneity and absence of crystalline defects such as grain boundaries, segregation, dislocation, and precipitates [6-10]. As a concrete reinforcing material, AMFs enhance the resistance to compression and cracking, as well as the flexural strengths and the long-term durability. In previous studies, it was also found that, owing to their unique functional properties, AMFs offer important opportunities in technological applications that include biodegradable implants, electrocatalysts and microelectromechanical systems. Such studies would be of great fundamental interest and vital importance for advanced applications. Lee et al. [11] prepared Ni-Nb-Ta amorphous metallic strip-Al matrix composites with micron thickness by infil tration casting process. The strip-Al alloy composites obtained by this process have good interfacial bonding and excellent mechanical properties. However, the mechanical properties of AMFs often change with the environment when they are used as additional materials in practical applications, especially in high-temperature environment. Therefore, it is necessary to study the mechanical properties of AMFs after heat treatment. As well known, heat treatment will change amorphous structure to crystal structure, and thus mechanical properties of AMFs changes [11]. Wang et al. [12] studied the effect of annealing on the mechanical properties of AMFs. They found the fracture strength decreased and no obvious plastic deformation occurred. However, up to date, there is a limited understanding of how heat treatments influence the microstructure and mechanical properties of AMFs, making it challenging to control and tailor the final properties of composite materials. Moreover, the effects of annealing conditions on AMFs with different compositions remain underexploited at the atomic scale.

Rationally utilizing the excellent performance of AMFs will be of great fundamental and vital significance for advanced applications. Further study of the effect of heat treatment on the performance of AMFs is challenging but needs to be further explored.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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