Effect of peak loads and cooling rates on creep behavior of Zr-based bulk metallic glass

In this study, different peak loads and varying cooling rates on creep behavior of (Zr0.6336Cu0.1425Ni0.1012Al0.12)(97.4)Er-2.6 bulk metallic glass were studied by nanoindentation tester and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results show that the change of different load and cooling rate has a great influence on the creep behavior of the alloy. Under high peak load conditions, the increasing of the creep displacement and the stress exponent (n) show strong indentation size effect. The hardness of the specimen without rare earth element is 5 times larger than the specimen with rare earth element. With the increase of the cooling rate, the creep displacement of the specimen is increasing and the time to enter the steady state creep is prolonging. The hardness and elastic modulus of the material are sensitive to the cooling rate relative to the load change.