The design and mechanical behaviors of in-situ formed ductile dendrite Ti-based bulk metallic glass composites with tailored composition and mechanisms

Up to now, few work has concerned about the composition design strategy in the field of in-situ dendrite bulk metallic glass composites (BMGCs) for the difficulty to mediate single element in the multi-component system. In this work, an innovative composition design strategy was proposed, and a novel series of in-situ β dendrite reinforced Ti-based BMGCs were prepared. It was found that the real composition of the in-situ formed dendrites and amorphous phase is well consistent with the designed one. Accordingly, the dendrite composition is tailored monotonically and precisely, while the composition and volume fraction keep similar for the amorphous matrix in the composites. The microstructure of the dendrites and the mechanical properties and mechanisms of the overall composites are essentially controlled by the dendrite composition. According to the corresponding deformation mechanisms which transform from stress-induced martensitic transformation and mechanical twinning to dislocation slip, these alloys can be classified into two groups: the stress-induced martensitic transformation type and the none-phase transformation type. The composition design strategy proposed in this work and the correlation between the dendrite composition and the mechanical mechanisms may provide useful guidance for the development of in-situ β dendrite reinforced BMGCs with optimized mechanical properties.