Cutting Characteristics of Zr-Based Bulk Metallic Glass

Cutting behavior exerts a considerable influence on the fabrication of bulk metallic glass (BMG) components. In this study, the influences of machining parameters (i.e., depth of cutting, feed rate, and spindle rate) on the turned surface of a Zr-based BMG after observing the 3D morphologies of this surface were characterized. The results showed that the influence of the spindle rate on the surface morphologies is more substantial as compared to the depth of cutting and the feed rate. Nanoscratch tests were conducted to further characterize the separation mechanism of the chips, which revealed that the chips are torn off the surface of a BMG because of inhomogeneous localized maximum shear stress.