On the nature of low-temperature anomalies of the anelastic properties of metallic glasses

In Memory of A. M. Roshchupkin The low-temperature (30<T<300 K) internal friction and elastic modulus of the metallic glass (MG) Ni60Nb40 subjected to preliminary cold working by rolling, high-temperature uniform straining, or electrolytic hydrogenation is investigated. It is established that cold rolling, which induces localized plastic flow, or hydrogenation radically alters the temperature dependences of the internal friction and elastic modulus: hysteresis appears in the background damping and intense relaxational peaks arise in the internal friction, accompanied by a defect of the elastic modulus. A uniform strain does not affect the low-temperature anelastic behavior of MGs. Microplastic deformation is observed to accompany the hydrogenation of weakly loaded samples. It is asserted that localized microplastic deformation also occurs on hydrogenation with no load. Plastic flow accompanying both rolling and hydrogenation occurs by the formation and motion of dislocationlike defects, which in the presence of an external load of alternating sign give rise to the observed anelastic anomalies. It is concluded that the low-temperature internal-friction peaks, described in the literature, in the “as-quenched,” cold-deformed, or hydrogenated MGs are all of a dislocation nature.