Influence of thin-film metallic glass coating on fatigue behavior of bulk metallic glass: Experiments and finite element modeling

A coating of the Zr-based thin-film metallic glass (TFMG) was deposited on the Zr50Cu30Al10Ni10 bulk metallic glass (BMG) to investigate shear-band evolution under four-point-bend fatigue testing. The fatigue endurance-limit of the TFMG-coated samples is ~ 33% higher than that of the BMG. The results of finite-element modeling (FEM) revealed a delay in the shear-band nucleation and propagation in TFMG-coated samples under applied cyclic-loading. The FEM study of spherical indentation showed that the redistribution of stress by the TFMG coating prevents localized shear-banding in the BMG substrate. The enhanced fatigue characteristics of the BMG substrates can be attributed to the TFMG coatings retarding shear-band initiation at defects on the surface of the BMG.