High temperature homogeneous plastic flow behavior of a Zr based bulk metallic glass matrix composite

In this paper, Zr based bulk metallic glass (BMG) composite consisting of nanocrystals embedded in the amorphous matrix was synthesized by controlled annealing treatment of a Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 amorphous alloy. The homogeneous plastic deformation behavior of the BMG composite was characterized in the supercooled liquid region, exhibiting non-Newtonian steady state plastic flow over the investigated strain rate domain. Based upon the analysis of rheological data in terms of a modified mechanistic model, it is revealed that the mechanism of the non-Newtonian plastic flow varies with temperature, which is closely related to the presence of nanocrystals within the glassy matrix.