Enhancement of Room-Temperature Plasticity in a Bulk Metallic Glass by Finely Dispersed Porosity

by Takeshi Wada & Akihisa Inoue Applied Physics Letters, 20 Jun 2005 Melts of Pd_42.5Cu₃₀Ni_7.5P₂₀ (at. %) held under pressurized hydrogen are cast into bulk metallic glass (BMG) rods with fine (20–30 µm diameter) pores uniformly dispersed. The low overall porosities (<4%)>–3, compared to 16 MJ m^–3 for the pore-free BMG. The pores force the proliferation of shear bands below the overall failure stress, a process of interest for toughening BMGs, materials for which shear localization in deformation restricts structural applications. Read more