Liquid phase and supercooled liquid phase welding of bulk metallic glasses

Recent progress on welding in bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) has been reviewed. BMGs have been successfully welded to BMGs or crystalline metals by liquid phase welding using explosion, pulse–current and electron-beam methods, and by supercooled liquid phase welding using friction method. Successful welding of the liquid phase methods was due to the high glass-forming ability of the BMGs and the high concentration of welding energy in these methods. In contrast, the supercooled liquid phase welding was successful due to the thermally stable supercooled liquid state of the BMGs and the superplasticity and viscous flow of the supercooled liquid. The successful welding of BMGs to BMGs and crystalline materials is promising for the future development of BMGs as engineering materials.