VISCOSITY OF MOLTEN PD77CU6.5SI16.5 AND THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRESPONDING STATES

The viscosity of Pd77Cu6.5Si16.5 was measured from 995 to 1183 K by capillary flow method. In the experiment, fluxing of the molten specimen by boron oxide was necessary in order to inhibit the formation of crystallites at temperatures near its liquidus. It was found that the viscosity can be described very well by the following Vogel-Fulcher equation: ln eta = -3.764 + 938.543/(T - 726), where T is in K. No discontinuity in viscosity was observed at the thermodynamic melting temperature. Recently Tsao and Spaepen [Amorphous Materials: Modeling of Structure and Properties, edited by V. Vitek (The Metallurgical Society of AIME, New York, 1983), p. 323] determined the equilibrium viscosity of the same system near the glass transition temperature. It turned out that the viscosity data from the two regimes cannot be joined together by a single Vogel-Fulcher equation of constant parameters. Finally the present results were compared with those earlier viscosity data of Pd40Ni40P20 and Au77Ge13.6Si9.4 [D. E. Polk and D. Turnbull, Acta Metall. 20, 493 (1972)] to test the validity of the principle of corresponding states for atomic transport properties.