Fracture behavior and deformation-induced structure changes of a Ti-based metallic glass using micro-sized cantilevers

Abstract

Micro-cantilever bending tests are performed to quantify the fracture toughness and reveal the deformation mechanism of a Ti-based metallic glass. Plastic deformation is localized in shear bands initiating from the roots of the notches of the cantilevers. Although the load-displacement curves show considerable ductile failure characteristics, the notch fracture toughness values that obtained from the bending tests are extremely low (∼4.7 MPa m). Size dependent fracture is thought to be observed, where the fracture toughness increases with decreasing the uncracked ligament size of the cantilevers. TEM bright field images show that the shear bands with the width of 4–7 nm present brighter contrast. The regions in vicinity of the shear bands show dark zones (ranging from 3 to 5 nm in size) surrounded by continues bright zones. Cu nanocrystals are found not only inside the shear bands, but also around them. The free volume theory together with the simulation results is applied to explain the formation of shear bands in this Ti-based metallic glass during the bending deformation. The observed Cu nanocrystals are thought to be formed as a consequence of plastic-deformation-assisted crystallization. It is suggested that local atomic rearrangements lead to shifting of Cu nanocrystals towards more stable positions and cause the formation of Cu nanocrystals in regions subjected to high shear stress field.