Modelling and simulation of twin-roll casting of bulk metallic glasses

As an economic and direct route to continuous thin strip production from the melt, twin roll casting (TRC) has been established as an effective process for aluminium alloys. Its adaptation to casting of bulk amorphous alloy strip necessitates matching of the thermal and mechanical behaviour of the cooling multi-component melt to the requirements (especially cooling rate, and strip exit temperature and thermal gradient) of vitrification. Using a dedicated control volume numerical model of TRC, simulation of the casting of 2 mm thick Vit 1 (Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5) alloy strip shows that the acceptable casting speeds are in the range 2.5 to 3.5 cm/s. The effects of varying strip thickness and strip-roll heat transfer coefficient (HTC) on this casting window are assessed. The differences between modelling of conventional alloy solidification and metallic glass formation are presented.