Fatigue Behaviors of a Ni-free ZrCuFeAlAg Bulk Metallic Glass in Simulated Body Fluid

Fatigue behaviors of a biocompatible Ni-free Zr60.14Cu22.31Fe4.85Al9.7Ag3 Zr-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) have been studied under three-point-bending test in a simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37 °C and compared with those in air at room temperature (RT). The BMG shows a high fatigue limit of approximately 366 MPa in SBF, which was slightly lower than that in air (400 MPa). The fatigue cracks tended to initiate from the defects such as cast-pores, inclusions and corners of the samples and propagate in a similar path in SBF and in air. Three distinct regions, i.e. a crack-initiation region, a stable crack-growth region and an unstable fast-fracture region were clearly observed on the fatigue-fractured surface. Although pitting occurred at the defects where crack initiated, it does not affect significantly the fatigue life of the BMG, because the lifetime in the present BMG is mainly determined by crack propagation. The high corrosion-fatigue limit of the studied BMG results from its excellent corrosion resistance in SBF and intrinsically good toughness.