CONTINUOUS RANDOM ALLOY NETWORKS - GLASS-TRANSITION AND ELASTICITY

Amorphous alloys can be modelled as random networks of atoms or molecu les of differing valencies. A statistical-mechanical theory of such ne tworks is presented for the case of binary amorphous alloys. The exist ence of a continuous equilibrium phase transition, from the liquid sta te to the amorphous solid state driven by increasing the density of pe rmanent random covalent bonds, is demonstrated. The structural and ela stic properties of the amorphous solid state are calculated through th e use of a variational Ansatz, and a discussion is given of the depend ence of these properties on the relative concentration of the constitu ent atoms or molecules and their valencies. Implications of the presen t results in the context of gelation are addressed, especially with re gard to the (primarily entropic) elastic properties of gels.