Plasticity and structural instability in a bulk metallic glass deformed in the supercooled liquid region

Abstract The deformation behavior of a bulk amorphous Zr–10Al–5Ti–17.9Cu–14.6Ni alloy was characterized in the supercooled liquid region. The alloy was observed to exhibit Newtonian behavior at low strain rates but to become non-Newtonian at high strain rates. Structures of the amorphous material, both before and after deformation, were examined using X-ray diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy. Experimental results showed the presence of nanocrystallites in the deformed samples, suggesting that the non-Newtonian behavior was associated with the concurrent crystallization of the amorphous structure during deformation; that is, a mixed crystalline-plus-amorphous structure was being tested. A mechanistic model based upon structural evolution has been developed to interpret the observed non-Newtonian behavior.