Micro-mechanical behavior of porous tungsten/Zr-based metallic glass composite under cyclic compression

The micro-mechanical behavior of porous tungsten/Zr-based metallic glass composites with different tungsten volume fraction was investigated under cyclic compression by synchrotron-based in-situ high-energy X-ray diffraction (HEXRD) and finite element modeling (FEM). During cyclic compression, the dislocation in the tungsten phase tangled near the interfaces, indicating that the elastic metallic glass phase restricted dislocation motion and obstructed the deformation of the tungsten phase because of the heterogeneity in stress. After the metallic glass phase yielded, the dislocation tended to propagate away from the interfaces, showing the decrease of the interphase stress affected the direction of motion in the dislocations. The tungsten phase exhibited increased yield strength with the increase of cyclic loading number. Yield stress of the tungsten phase decreased with increasing the tungsten volume fraction during cyclic compression, which was influenced by the elastic strain mismatch between the two phases. The stress heterogeneity and the stress distribution difference between the two phases resulted in that the yield strength of the metallic glass phase decreased with the increase of tungsten volume fraction, and accelerated the formation of shear bands in the metallic glass phase as well as cracks in the tungsten phase. The heterogeneity in stress also excessed the interface bonding strength, inducing interface fracture near interfaces.