Effect of Zr/Ni ratio on the stability and ductility of Zr–Al–Ni–Cu bulk metallic glasses

The intrinsic nature of bulk metallic glasses Zr60+xAl8Ni15−xCu17 (x = 0–5 at.%) can be effectively modified by changing the Zr/Ni ratio from 60/15 to 65/10. The crystallization behaviors upon isothermal annealing are also changed from multi-step crystallization to single step crystallization with the variation of the Zr/Ni ratio. Ductility improvement attributed to the retarded crystallization kinetics was proposed based upon the results of indentation experiment and crystallization kinetic analysis.