Effect of Sn Additions on the Damage Tolerance of a ZrCuNiAl Bulk Metallic Glass

Damage tolerance (toughness and plasticity) properties of a ZrCuNiAl bulk metallic glass (BMG) are tailored through Sn alloying under ambient conditions. The result shows that the measured fracture energy is clearly correlated with the product (R) of Young’s modulus and averaged size of vein patterns on mode I crack surfaces of these BMGs. The implications of the current result on other BMGs are also briefly discussed, which might be useful for the evaluation of damage tolerance of tough BMGs.