Mechanical stability of Ca65Mg15Zn20 bulk metallic glass during deformation in the supercooled liquid region

Ca₆₅Mg₁₅Zn₂₀ bulk metallic glass (BMG) samples of dimensions 3.2 mm × 7 mm × 125 mm were prepared using a low-pressure die casting technique. These samples were ground to produce tensile test pieces in compliance with ASTM E8-04. This work is the first reported study of the tensile behaviour of Ca₆₅Mg₁₅Zn₂₀ BMG in the supercooled liquid region (105–120 °C). Two deformation conditions were used for testing: (i) constant strain rate testing from 10⁻³ to 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹ and (ii) constant load testing using loads of 20–50 N applied to a tensile sample during heating at a constant rate of 5 °C s⁻¹. The maximum elongation to failure in the BMG was in excess of 850% for constant load testing although, under isothermal testing conditions, most samples failed after 200% elongation. It is concluded that large superplastic elongations (>500%) during isothermal tensile straining is difficult in this alloy due to the onset of crystallization.     

Nanoscale amorphous “band-like” structure induced by friction stir processing in Zr55Cu30Al10Ni5 bulk metallic glass

Friction stir processing (FSP) is successfully applied in Zr-based bulk metallic glass in this study. In the FSP specimen obtained, large defects and cracks are not present in the FSP region. The microstructure in the friction zone (FZ) exhibited an amorphous “band-like” structure with widths of 10-45 nm and a small number of nanoscale crystalline particles were observed along the “band-like” structure. We concluded that the nanoscale amorphous “band-like” structure obtained in this study is nanoscale shear bands. From this result, FSP is expected to be a useful method of processing bulk metallic glass with nanoscale shear bands to investigate the influence of shear bands on the deformation behavior of bulk metallic glass.     

Study of mechanical deformation of Zr55Cu30Al10Ni5 bulk metallic glass through instrumented indentation

Instrumented sharp indentation experiments using both conical and Vickers diamond pyramidal indenters were carried out to study deformation characteristics of Zr₅₅Cu₃₀Al₁₀Ni₅ bulk metallic glass. Finite element simulations of instrumented indentation were also performed to formulate an overall constitutive response. Comparing the experimentally obtained results with the finite element predictions, it can be stated that mechanical deformation of the bulk metallic glass can be described well by both Mohr-Coulomb and Drucker-Prager constitutive criteria. Using these criteria, the extent of material pile-up observed around the indenter was also estimated very well.     

Cooling rate effects on the microstructure and phase formation in Zr51Cu20.7Ni12Al16.3 bulk metallic glass

A detailed transmission electron microscope (TEM) study has been conducted to investigate the microstructures of the Zr₅₁Cu_20.7Ni₁₂Al_16.3 metallic glass formed at different cooling rates. It has been found that the most competitive crystalline phase to the amorphous structure is an oxygen-stabilized FCC NiZr₂-type phase, which in turn acts as the leading phase to trigger the formation of other crystalline phases in the slow-cooled alloy.     

Precipitation of icosahedral quasicrystalline phase in metallic Zr65Al7.5Ni5Cu17.5Re5 glass

Recently, the precipitation of an icosahedral quasicrystalline phase (I-phase) in metallic Zr₆₅Al_7.5Ni₁₀Cu_12.5M₅ (M=Pd, Pt, Au and Ag) glasses, which were obtained by adding noble metals to the well-known metallic Zr₆₅Al_7.5Ni₁₀Cu_17.5 glass, was reported. In the present work, the crystallization process of a metallic Zr₆₅Al_7.5Ni₅Cu_17.5Re₅ glass, which was obtained by adding non-noble metal Re to Zr₆₅Al_7.5Ni₁₀Cu_17.5, was studied. Two exothermic peaks were observed in the differential scanning calorimetry curve of the metallic glass, of which the low temperature one corresponds to the precipitation of an I-phase. The present result demonstrates that the addition of Re is effective in promoting the precipitation of I-phase, in addition to the previously reported noble metals (Pd, Pt, Au and Ag). The atomic radii of these elements are limited to the range of 0.137 to 0.144 nm, implying that atomic size is a significant factor.     

Compressive fracture of Zr55Al10Ni5Cu30 bulk amorphous alloy at high temperatures

The fracture behavior of the Zr₅₅Al₁₀Ni₅Cu₃₀ bulk amorphous alloy under uniaxial compression at high temperatures has been investigated. At room temperature, the fracture occurred along the maximum shear plane which declined by 45° to the direction of the applied load, and a crack with serrated edge appeared on the ridge of the veins at the fracture surface for the Zr₅₅Al₁₀Ni₅Cu₃₀ bulk amorphous alloy. At high temperatures, the compressive fracture surface of the Zr₅₅Al₁₀Ni₅Cu₃₀ bulk amorphous alloy became much rougher than that at room temperature and steps appeared on the fracture surface. With increasing temperature, a different pattern from the vein-like morphology appeared on the fracture surface, which is very similar to the lava-flow. This type of fracture pattern is most likely due to the adiabatic heating created by plastic flow.     

Effect of Nb addition on the subsurface deformation behavior in Cu47Ti34Zr11Ni8 bulk metallic glasses through Vickers indentation

In this paper, 3 mm diameter (Cu₄₇Ti₃₄Zr₁₁Ni₈)_100−xNb_x (x = 0,1,2) glass forming alloys were fabricated by water-cooled copper mould cast. Microstructural characterization reveals that the monolithic Cu₄₇Ti₃₄Zr₁₁Ni₈ bulk metallic glass exhibits homogenous amorphous structure. While the alloys with Nb addition exhibit a composite structure. For alloys with x = 1, micro-scaled crystalline particles were found to distribute in the glassy matrix. For alloys with x = 2, the microstructure is dominated by a high density of dendritic phase embedded in the glassy matrix. Bonded interface technique was adopted to study the deformation behavior of the alloys underneath the Vickers indentation. It reveals that the subsurface shear patterns are significantly affected by the precipitated phases. The different deformation mechanism of the alloys resulted from the minor Nb addition was put forward and discussed.     

Structural relaxation and crystallisation of bulk metallic glasses Zr41Ti14Cu12.5Ni10−xBe22.5Fex (x = 0 or 2) studied by mechanical spectroscopy

The measurements of the internal friction and dynamic shear modulus as well as differential scanning calorimetry have been performed in order to investigate the structural relaxation and crystallization of Zr₄₁Ti₁₄Cu_12.5Ni_10−xBe_22.5Fe_x (x=0 or 2) bulk metallic glasses. It is found that the glass transition is retarded and the thermal stability of supercooled liquid is increased by the Fe addition. The experimental results are well analyzed using a physical model, which can characterize atomic mobility and mechanical response of disordered condensed materials.