Tensile softening of metallic-glass-matrix composites in the supercooled liquid region

A Ti-based metallic-glass-matrix composite exhibits tensile softening (necking) in the supercooled liquid region, accompanied by a large tensile ductility and a fragmentation of dendrites. Subjected to high temperatures, concurrent crystallization does not occur, suggesting a good thermal stability of the glass matrix. The presence of high-volume-fractioned dendrites lowers the rheology of the viscous glass matrix at high temperatures, which results in an absence of super elongation as monolithic bulk metallic glasses (BMGs). A tensile strength of 970 MPa is higher than those of most BMGs under varying strain rates, ascribing to the retardation of softening by the dendrites. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3696026]