Fabrication of Bulk Metallic Glass Foams via Severe Plastic Deformation

Dr. Suveen N. MathaudhuMaterials EngineerWeapons and Materials Research DirectorateU.S. Army Research LaboratoryAbstract:Personnel protection for soldiers requires thin, shock-absorbing components in composite vest plate. Metallic foams exhibit outstanding energy absorption, due to ductile densification by plastic deformation of their struts. Foams based on bulk metallic glasses (BMG), which have the highest strength of any metals, and as such, should be optimal. An obstacle to the use of BMG foams is the brittle behavior. However, recent demonstrations show that the thin, sub-millimeter, struts of BMG foams are ductile in compression, with outstanding energy absorption. The work presented here will demonstrate that equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) can be used to create composites of BMG powders and metallic powders (Cu, Ni, W) which can subsequently be converted to BMG open-cell foams by leaching of the metallic second phase. These foams show excellent mechanical properties and particularly high energy absorption. Comparisons with similar melt cast BMG foams will be made. The talk will cover the overview of severe plastic deformation processing, metallic glass powder consolidation and foam fabrication by ECAE.Short Bio:
Dr. Suveen Mathaudhu is a Materials Engineer with the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. Dr. Mathaudhu received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Walla Walla College (College Place, WA) and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University (College Station, TX). Upon graduating, he accepted a post-doctoral fellowship, and subsequently a civil servant position at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD) with the purpose of establishing a deformation processing laboratory for research on advanced materials of interest to the DoD.

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