Zr 48.5 Cu 46.5 Al 5 bulk metallic glass matrix composites with diameters of 3 and 4 mm were produced through water-cooled copper mold casting. Micrometer-sized bcc based B2 structured CuZr phase containing martensite plate, together with some densely distributed nanocrystalline Zr 2 Cu and plate-like Cu 10 Zr 7 compound, was found embedded in a glassy matrix. The microstructure formation strongly depends on the composition and cooling rate. Room temperature compression tests reveal significant strain hardening and plastic strains of 7.7% and 6.4% before failure are obtained for the 3-mm-and 4-mm-diam samples, respectively. The formation of the martensite phase is proposed to contribute to the strain hardening and plastic deformation of the materials.
A composite material containing uniformly distributed micrometer-sized Nb particles in a Zr-based amorphous matrix was prepared by suction cast. The resulting material exhibits high fractured strength over 1550 MPa and enhanced plastic strain of about 29.7% before failure in uniaxial compression test at room temperature. Studies of the serrations on the stress-strain curves and the shear bands on the fractured samples reveal that the amplitude of the stress drop of each serration step corresponds to the extent of the propagation of a single shear band through the materials. The composite exhibits more serration steps and smaller amplitude of stress drop due to the pinning of shear band propagation by ductile Nb particles.
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