Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Modeling the fracture toughness of metallic glasses through a multiscale approach

Project description

Research could shed light on the fracture mechanics of bulk metallic glasses

Bulk metallic glasses are a class of non-crystalline solid materials that combine the high strength and hardness of metal alloys with the elasticity of glassy polymers. Unlike their crystalline counterparts, the lack of dislocations and grain boundaries offer better energy restitution and render them more tolerant to wear and corrosion. These properties make them valuable materials for use in many applications, from sports goods to biomedicine. However, these materials demonstrate a sharp drop in fracture toughness (ability to resist failure in the presence of a crack) depending on a certain temperature. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ToughMG project plans to thoroughly investigate this sudden change in fracture toughness by conducting numerical simulations across all scales.

Objective

Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are promising materials that combine the strength of metal alloys with the elasticity of glassy polymers. Compared to their crystalline counterpart, the lack of dislocations and grain boundaries translates into better energy restitution, excellent wear, and corrosion resistance, making them promising candidates for sports goods to biomedical materials. Unfortunately, BMGs are notorious for exhibiting crack growth, fracture, and, ultimately, catastrophic failure, severely limiting their applications. Recently, experimental observation showed that BMGs could exhibit a mechanical transition revealed by a sharp drop in fracture toughness (ability to resist failure in the presence of a crack) as a function of a protocol (fictive) temperature that controls the glass stability. This transition strongly echoes with the ductile to brittle transition seen in recent numerical and theoretical works and is found to be linked to a sharp decrease in plastic defects (soft spots), which play a role similar to dislocations in crystals.
In this action, we propose investigating the toughening transition seen in BMGs through a novel multiscale numerical approach. This action aims to enable the parametrization of continuum models with the insight gained from microscopic simulations. In ToughMG, I will associate my experience in the detection and micromechanics of plastic defects at the microscopic level to the prominent expertise provided by Prof. Barrat and the host institution in modeling plasticity at the mesoscopic and macroscopic scale. The methodology developed will allow me to predict large scale plastic strain observed prior fracture as a function of the material's protocol history. This research plan can substantially advance our understanding of the connection between glassy structure and fracture mechanics of bulk metallic glasses and allows for better material design.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

UNIVERSITE GRENOBLE ALPES
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 196 707,84
Address
621 AVENUE CENTRALE
38058 GRENOBLE
France

See on map

Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 196 707,84
My booklet 0 0