Relation between icosahedral short-range ordering and plastic deformation in Zr–Nb–Cu–Ni–Al bulk metallic glasses

The relation between icosahedral short-range ordering (ISRO) and plastic deformation was investigated in Zr70−xNbxCu13.5Ni8.5Al8 (at.%, x = 0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10) bulk metallic glasses (BMG). The formation of icosahedral quasicrystal (I-phase) during the annealing process implies that ISRO widely exists in these materials. The degree of ISRO is thermodynamically evaluated to show that ISRO increases with increasing Nb content. Compression tests indicate that BMG with 0–7 at.% Nb possess similar unusual plastic deformability, which is attributed to ISRO-mediated local distribution of free volume (FV) and ISRO prompted deformation-induced crystallization. A proposed core–shell model coupled with transmission electron microscopy analysis demonstrates that the FV is distributed more heterogeneously with increasing ISRO, which is beneficial for multiplying the shear bands. Deformation-induced crystallization is facilitated, owing to the low interfacial energy of the nucleation and growth of the crystals attributed to ISRO in the amorphous matrix, which improves plasticity by consuming energy and the product altering the stress field in the amorphous matrix. Design of new ductile BMG is discussed in these strategies.