Effect of quenching mode on the mechanical properties of a Zr64Al10Ni15Cu11 metallic glass

This paper studied the effect of quenching mode on the mechanical properties of a Zr64Al10Ni15Cu11 metallic glass. It has been shown that the specimen through annealing and water quenching treatments has a higher strength of 1698 MPa than the specimen without annealing treatment (with a strength of 1572 MPa) due to the presence of nanocrystals in the amorphous matrix, which act as obstacles to the shear bands movement during deformation and thus improve the strength. It has also been shown that the specimen through annealing and air quenching treatments has a lower strength of 1119 MPa than the specimen without annealing treatment (with a strength of 1572 MPa) due to the heterogeneous distribution of the internal stress, which induces the crack initiations and catastrophic failure at a rather low external applied stress. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.