Dynamic Mechanical Properties in a Zr50Cu40Al10 Bulk Metallic Glass

A large variety of Zr-based bulk metallic glasses has been developed in the last decade. They are attractive due to their high mechanical properties. However, they are faced with a fairly low thermal stability at high temperature. One of the best way to test this stability is to determine the evolution of their mechanical properties versus the temperature. By performing appropriated annealing, either structural relaxation or crystallization (partial or total) can be achieved. The influence of these two structural evolutions have been investigated. It appears that the Zr 50 Cu 40 Al 10 bulk glassy alloy exhibits very good features concerning the stability criterion.