Fatigue behavior of Zr–Ti–Ni–Cu–Be bulk-metallic glasses

The high-cycle fatigue (HCF) behavior of the Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 (in at.%) bulk-metallic glass (BMG) was studied. Two batches of samples that are from different lots (Batches 59 and 94) are employed in present experiments. The HCF experiments were conducted, using an electrohydraulic machine at a frequency of 10 Hz with a R ratio of 0.1 in air at room temperature and under tension-tension loading, where R=σmin./σmax.. (σmin. and σmax. are the applied minimum and maximum stresses, respectively). A high-speed and high-sensitivity thermographic-infrared (IR) imaging system was employed for the nondestructive evaluation of temperature evolutions during fatigue testing. No distinct sparking phenomenon was observed at the final fracture moment for this alloy. The fatigue lifetime of Batch 59 is longer than that of Batch 94 at high stress levels (maximum stresses >864 MPa). Moreover, the fatigue-endurance limit of Batch 59 (703 MPa) is somewhat greater than that of Batch 94 (615 MPa). The vein pattern and liquid droplets were observed in the apparent-melting region along the edge of the fractured surfaces. The fracture morphology suggests that fatigue cracks initiated from casting defects, such as porosities and inclusions, which have an important effect on the fatigue behavior of BMGs.