Dynamic shear punch behavior of tungsten fiber reinforced Zr-based bulk metallic glass matrix composites

•Dynamic shear punch tests were carried out on the fiber/Zr-based BMG composite.•The failure mode of the composite is found to change with the fiber volume fraction.•A modified Tsai-Hill failure criterion is proposed for this composite.•The shear-to-normal factor α controls the transition of failure mode.

Dynamic shear punch tests were carried out on the tungsten fiber reinforced Zr-based bulk metallic glass composites. The experimental results show that with the increasing fiber volume fraction, the failure mode of the composites switches from shear to tensile fracture. A new failure criterion, based on the Tsai-Hill criterion and the unified failure criterion for bulk metallic glasses, is proposed to characterize fracture behavior of this bulk metallic glass composite. It is found that the shear-to-normal strength ratio α controls the transition of failure mode of this metallic glass composite. The underlying mechanism of the transition of failure mode is discussed as well.