Enhanced plasticity of Fe-based bulk metallic glass by tailoring microstructure

The room temperature compressive plasticity of Fe75Mo5P10C8.3B1.7 bulk metallic glass (BMG) was improved from 0.5% to 1.8% by increasing the sample diameter from 1.5 mm to 2.0 mm. With increasing the sample diameter to 2.0 mm, a heterogeneous microstructure with in-situ formed α-Fe dendrite sparsely distributed in the amorphous matrix can be attained. This heterogeneous microstructure is conceived to be highly responsible for the enhanced global plasticity in this marginal Fe-based BMG.