Effect of Crystallization on Mechanical Properties of Zr₈₅Cu₁₅ Metallic Glasses with Different Cooling Rates

Metallic glasses (MGs) have attracted extensive attention because of their unique disordered structures, excellent properties, and potential application prospects. The molecular dynamics simulation method is utilized in this paper to obtain the equal size Zr85Cu15 MGs and partially crystallized MGs with four different cooling rates. The effect of crystallization on the mechanical characteristics of MGs is investigated systematically on this basis. The yield strength of MGs decreases as the cooling rate increases, the plasticity improves, and the deformation mode gradually changes from localized to non-localized deformation. After isothermal annealing, the crystalline phase appears inside the MGs, the degree of softening of the MGs is reduced, and the yield strength is substantially increased; the shear band dominates plastic deformation. The MG with a cooling rate of 5 x 10(12) K/s exhibits better plasticity and low strain localization.