Supercooled liquid foaming of a Zr-Al-Cu-Ag bulk metallic glass containing pressurized helium pores

Foaming of a Zr-based metallic glass in the supercooled liquid is successfully performed by introducing pressurized pores and subsequent isochronal annealing. Melting of a Zr₄₈Cu₃₆Al₈Ag₈ powder under 12 MPa pressurized helium atmosphere followed by water quenching introduces spherical helium pores, whose average diameter and volume fraction are estimated respectively to be 30 μm and 7%, into a fully glassy bulk Zr₄₈Cu₃₆Al₈Ag₈ alloy. The isochronal annealing of the porous alloy below the crystallization temperature under atmospheric pressure of argon enables the expansion of pores by viscous flow deformation of the supercooled liquid, resulting in a high porosity structure up to 70% with a uniform cell size and cell distribution.