Enhanced plasticity in Mg-based bulk metallic glass composite reinforced with ductile Nb particles

The authors report the synthesis of Mg-based metallic glass composite reinforced with Nb particles which are simply added during melting process. The ductile Nb particles effectively impede shear band propagation and upon yielding, deformed Nb particles distribute the load uniformly to the surrounding glassy matrix to promote the initiation and branching of abundant secondary shear bands. In contrast to the previous Mg-based metallic glass composites which fracture with very little plasticity, the composite shows great resistance to crack growth. The high strength of 900 MPa and large plasticity of 12.1 +/- 2% have made it comparable to excellent Zr- or Ti-based metallic glass composite. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.