Fracture toughness and fatigue-crack propagation in a Zr–Ti–Ni–Cu–Be bulk metallic glass

The recent development of metallic alloy systems which can be processed with an amorphous structure over large dimensions, specifically to form metallic glasses at low cooling rates (∼10 K/s), has permitted novel measurements of important mechanical properties. These include, for example, fatigue-crack growth and fracture toughness behavior, representing the conditions governing the subcritical and critical propagation of cracks in these structures. In the present study, bulk plates of a ${\mathrm{Zr}}_{\text{41.2}}$ ${\mathrm{Ti}}_{\text{13.8}}$ ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{\text{12.5}}$ ${\mathrm{Ni}}_{10}$ ${\mathrm{Be}}_{\text{22.5}}$ alloy, machined into 7 mm wide, 38 mm thick compact-tension specimens and fatigue precracked following standard procedures, revealed fracture toughnesses in the fully amorphous structure of $K_{\mathrm{Ic}}\sim$ 55 $\mathrm{MPa}\surd$ m, i.e., comparable with that of a high-strength steel or aluminum alloy. However, partial and full crystallization, e.g., following thermal exposure at 633 K or more, was found to result in a drastic reduction in fracture toughness to ∼1 MPa√m, i.e., comparable with silica glass. The fully amorphous alloy was also found to be susceptible to fatigue-crack growth under cyclic loading, with growth-rate properties comparable to that of ductile crystalline metallic alloys, such as high-strength steels or aluminum alloys; no such fatigue was seen in the partially or fully crystallized alloys which behaved like very brittle ceramics. Possible micromechanical mechanisms for such behavior are discussed.