Deformation behavior of a Ni₅₉Zr₂₀Ti ₁₆Si₂Sn₃ metallic glass matrix composite reinforced by copper synthesized by warm extrusion of powders

A metallic glass matrix composite (MGMC) reinforced by copper short fibers has been prepared by warm extrusion of powders, and its deformation behavior at room temperature and in the supercooled liquid region of the metallic glass has been investigated. A mixture of Ni₅₉Zr₂₀Ti ₁₆Si₂Sn₃ metallic glass powders and copper powders is extruded in the supercooled liquid region of the metallic glass with an extrusion ratio of 5. The volume fraction of the copper phase is 0.2. After extrusion, initially spherical powders are elongated along the extrusion direction; no pores are visible. The MGMC shows a high failure strength of around 1.85 GPa, slightly lower than that of the as-cast Ni₅₉Zr ₂₀Ti₁₆Si₂Sn₃ metallic glass, under uniaxial compression. However, due to the crack bridging mechanism produced by the randomly distributed copper short fibers, the MGMC does not catastrophically fail by a single shear band propagating across the whole monolithic sample. In the supercooled liquid region of the metallic glass, the MGMC shows large elongation to failure but fails by cavitation due to the preexisting Ni-based crystalline powders.