Cu50Zr50 metallic glass flakes reinforced Al composites: Experimental and molecular dynamics nanoindentation response of matrix, interface, and reinforcement

Abstract

In this study, we report experimental and molecular dynamics (MD) studies on the sintering and nanoindentation behavior of Cu50Zr50 metallic glass (MG) flakes reinforced Al composites. The mechanical response (yielding, elastic modulus, and hardness) of the individual components has been investigated in detail. Spark plasma sintering technique is used to synthesize Al powder (70 Vol. %) and Cu50Zr50 (30 Vol.%) MG flakes composite. The values of elastic modulus (Es) are found to be 71 GPa (Es, Al), 97 GPa (Es, MG), and 80.3 (Es, Al-MG interface). The values of hardness (H) are 8.5GPa in MG, 3.1 3.5 GPa in the Al-MG interface region, and 2.4 GPa in the Al region. MD simulations of sintering and nanoindentation are carried out comprising 583882 atoms. Embedded atom method (EAM) potential is used to model the atomic interactions between Al, Cu and Zr atoms. Simulation results are in good agreement with the experiments.