Electrical conductivity of a bulk metallic glass composite

Abstract

The authors report the electrical conductivity of a bulk metallic glass (BMG) based composite fabricated by warm extrusion of a mixture of gas-atomized glassy powders and ductile α-brass powders. The conductivity of the BMG composite can be well modeled by the percolation theory and the critical percolation threshold volume of the high-conductive brass phase was estimated to be about 10%. It was found that the short irregular brass fibers can dramatically reduce the resistivity of the BMG, leading to an improved material with both high strength and good conductivity for functional applications.