Plastic deformation behaviors of Ni- and Zr-based bulk metallic glasses subjected to nanoindentation

• Plastic deformation of Ni- and Zr-based BMG is studied under identical conditions
• Zr-based BMG undergoes a greater extent of plastic deformation than Ni-based BMG
• Nanoindentation strain rate is studied to clarify variation in plastic deformation
• Metastable microstructure, thermal stability affect BMG plastic deformation

Plastic deformation behaviors of Ni42Ti20Zr21.5Al8Cu5Si3.5 and Zr51Ti5Ni10Cu25Al9 bulk metallic glasses at room temperature were studied by nanoindentation testing and atomic force microscopy under equivalent indentation experimental conditions. The different chemical composition of these two bulk metallic glasses produced variant tendencies for displacement serrated flow to occur during the loading process. The nanoindentation strain rate was calculated as a function of indentation displacement in order to verify the occurrence of displacement serrated flow at different loading rates. Atomic force microscopy revealed decreasing numbers of discrete shear bands around the indentation sites as loading rates increased from 0.025 to 2.5 mNs− 1. Variations in plastic deformation behaviors between Ni and Zr-based glasses materials can be explained by the different metastable microstructures and thermal stabilities of the two materials. The mechanism governing plastic deformation of these metallic glasses was analyzed in terms of an established model of the shear transformation zone.