Bending plasticity of Zr55Al10Ni5Cu30 bulk metallic glass with monolithic amorphous structure

In order to unravel the effect of free volume on the bending plasticity of Zr55Al10Ni5Cu30 bulk metallic glass (BMG) with monolithic amorphous structure, a series of samples with different free volume content and structural disorder degree were prepared by varying the remelting times of the master alloy ingots and annealing the as-cast samples at 673 K. It is shown that both free volume and structural disorder degree influence the plasticity of the monolithic BMGs. Annihilating the excessive free volume from the BMG has a larger influence on the plasticity of the BMG that is more disordered in structure.