APS » PROLA » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 94 » Issue 12
< Previous article | Next article >

Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 125510 (2005) [4 pages]

Fracture of Brittle Metallic Glasses: Brittleness or Plasticity

Download: PDF (281 kB) or Buy this Article (Use Article Pack) Export: BibTeX or EndNote (RIS)

X. K. Xi1, D. Q. Zhao1, M. X. Pan1, W. H. Wang1 *, Y. Wu2, and J. J. Lewandowski3
1Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
2Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3255, USA
3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, 44106 Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Received 25 November 2004; published 1 April 2005

We report a brittle Mg-based bulk metallic glass which approaches the ideal brittle behavior. However, a dimple structure is observed at the fracture surface by high resolution scanning electron microscopy, indicating some type of “ductile” fracture mechanism in this very brittle glass. We also show, from the available data, a clear correlation between the fracture toughness and plastic process zone size for various glasses. The results indicate that the fracture in brittle metallic glassy materials might also proceed through the local softening mechanism but at different length scales.


©2005 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.125510
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.125510
PACS: 62.20.Mk, 61.43.Fs, 81.40.Np

* Corresponding author. Electronic address: whw@aphy.iphy.ac.cn

[ Abstract  |  Previous article  |  Next article  |  Issue 12 ]