EBSD Analysis for Microstructure Characterization of Zr-based Bulk Metallic Glass Composites

Bulk metallic glasses (BMG’s) have long been materials of interest due to their high strength, high elastic limit, wear and corrosion resistance, and ease of thermoforming above the glass transition temperature [1]. The primary technical challenge of implementing BMG’s in engineering applications is their tendency to fail catastrophically via highly localized shear banding events. Though the elastic limit of BMG’s approaches 2% [2], the ductility in uniaxial tension is negligible. One way to improve ductility in these materials is to allow the in-situ precipitation of a crystalline phase within the BMG alloy matrix. The ductile second phase acts to both arrest and initiate multiple shear bands, improving toughness by increasing the fracture surface area and preventing failure by a single shear band [3].