Work hardening ability of ductile Ti45Cu40Ni7.5Zr5Sn2.5 and Cu47.5Zr47.5Al5 bulk metallic glasses

Ductile Ti45Cu40Ni7.5Zr5Sn2.5 and Cu47.5Zr47.5Al5 bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) present different work hardening abilities under compression. Microstructural investigations reveal that nanoscale chemical heterogeneities occur throughout the samples. The morphology of the chemically heterogeneous domains in the as-cast Ti45Cu40Ni7.5Zr5Sn2.5 BMG is irregular and significantly interconnected. In contrast, the as-cast Cu47.5Zr47.5Al5 BMG exhibits a spherical morphology of the chemically heterogeneous regions. Furthermore, the distribution of the nanoscale chemical heterogeneity is macroscopically inhomogeneous throughout the material. These findings suggest that the different work hardening abilities of the Ti45Cu40Ni7.5Zr5Sn2.5 and Cu47.5Zr47.5Al5 BMGs possibly originate from the different morphologies and distributions of the chemically heterogeneous regions. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.