Abstract
Metallic glasses, metallic materials with a disordered, non-crystalline atomic structure, can be fabricated by rapidly quenching a specific alloy from the liquid state. One intriguing fabrication strategy is direct laser deposition (DLD), and additive manufacturing technique which involves using a laser to melt small volumes of material, which then cool rapidly once the laser is removed. The goal for this independent study is to find how the laser power during the first remelt affects the overall glass formation ability of Cu64Zr36 alloy fabricated from elemental powders. This was done by using a Laser Engineered Net Shaping machine (LENS) to melt and linearly deposit elemental powders onto a zirconium substrate. These samples were characterized by using optical microscopy and measuring glassy sections with ImageJ. By defining the glassy structure as the surface of the sample being smooth and continuous, and a glassy section being at least fifty percent glassy by line width, it was found a remelt power of 290 W gave the largest total percentage of metallic glass at 40.22%. The most consistent line was measured by looking at which sample had the longest glassy segment. This was at 260 W, with the largest segment measuring 1829.9 μm.
Document Type
Final Report
Class Name
Mechanical Engineering and Material Sciences Independent Study
Language
English (en)
Date of Submission
5-27-2025
Recommended Citation
Siefert, Max A., "Influence of Laser Power on Glass Formation in Cu64Zr36 Fabricated by Direct Laser Deposition" (2025). Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Independent Study. 303.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mems500/303