Improved plasticity by electropulsing in a Zr₆₂Al ₁₉Ni₁₉ bulk metallic glass

The present work reported the application of electropulsing technique (EPT) for improving plasticity of a Zr₆₂Al₁₉Ni₁₉ bulk metallic glass. After the elecropulsing with a small current of 5A, no obvious crystallization was observed in X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. Results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements indicated that the glass transition temperature was reduced from 698K to 691K. Room-temperature uniaxial compression tests revealed that the treated BMG showed larger plastic deformation up to 6%, compared with less than 2% plasticity of untreated sample, at a 1×10^-4 s^-1 strain rate. SEM observation showed that the sample after electropulsing treatment show significant difference in the distribution of shear bands from that of the untreated one. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.