Bulk metallic glass (BMG) composites with the austenite B2 phase as reinforcement macroscopically showed strain hardening behavior due to the plasticity induced by martensitic transformation during deformation. Relationship between characteristics of the B2-CuZr reinforcing phase and uniaxial compressive properties of CuZr-based BMG composites was studied. Mechanical properties of these BMG composites were found to depend on not only the reinforced phases but also the amorphous matrix,and the yield and fracture strength can be roughly estimated by the rule of mixture principle. Distribution of the reinforced B2-CuZr phase has an important impact on the compressive plasticity even for the composites with a similar volume fraction of the crystalline phase.
Mechanical properties of the glassy specimens fabricated at different cooling rates with a composition of Ti40Zr25Cu12Ni3Be20 were systematically investigated. It was confirmed that faster cooling rates caused not only a larger amount of frozen-in free volume but also a higher glass transition temperature in the bulk glassy alloy. Increase in the free volume was found to favor plastic deformation and then to give rise to larger compressive plasticity, whilst the rise in the glass transition temperature seemed to be closely related to the higher yield strength. Moreover, the increase of yield strength and plasticity induced by fast cooling rates may also be associated with the residual stress generated during the fabrication process. Our results suggest that the deformation behavior of bulk metallic glasses is sensitive to various factors and influences from the other factors should be excluded as far as cooling-rate effects on bulk metallic glasses are considered.
XIAO YueHua, WU Yuan, LIU ZhiYuan, WU HongHui & Lü ZhaoPing State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
