Micromechanical model of bulk metallic glass matrix composites with transformation induced plasticity

Abstract After the introduction of the TRIP (transformation-induced plasticity) effect in bulk metallic glass matrix composites (BMGMCs), the high tensile ductility and marked work-hardening capability could be achieved. A simple micromechanical multi-phase model is developed to address their monotonic mechanical behaviors. The constitutive behaviors of the BMG matrix and particle phases are described by the free volume model and Ludwik flow equation, respectively. Weng's mean field method is adopted to establish the relation between the constituents and resulting composites. A strain-based Weibull probability distribution function is assumed to describe the evolution of phase transformation. The present model is performed under the stain-controlled loading, and the predictions are in good agreement with the measured results, which confirms that the present model can successfully characterize the composite properties, such as yield strength, phase transformation and work-hardening elongation.