Effect of Thermal History on Performance of Bulk Metallic Glass Spacecraft Components

Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are a class of materials with attractive properties for use in spacecraft applications. With recent advances in the BMG supply chain and industrialization, a thorough understanding of the effects of thermal history throughout the manufacturing, integration, and service on performance of a BMG component is required. In this study, the Cu43Zr43Al7Be7 (at. %) BMG alloy, currently used as gears intended for extraterrestrial robots for space exploration, was studied in detail.