Effect of oxygen concentration upon the ductility of amorphous Zr57Nb5Al10Cu15.4Ni12.6

The effect of oxygen content on the mechanical and thermal properties of Zr57Nb5Al10Cu15.4Ni12.6 bulk metallic glass was measured. Oxygen was systematically added to a master alloy through the addition of ZrO2. Compression, Vickers hardness and bending, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray measurements were performed. Material with no additional oxygen demonstrated the ability to deform through multiple shear band formation, while that with higher oxygen content retained up to 90% of its compressive strength but lost virtually all ductility. The loss of ductility is attributed to the formation of Zr2Cu- and Zr2Ni-type intermetallic oxide particles.