Reappraisal of the work hardening behavior of bulk amorphous matrix composites

This paper investigates the origin of work hardening in amorphous composites by directly measuring the hardness variations of crystalline particles and amorphous matrices at various strains. The work hardening of the amorphous composites was caused predominantly by hardening of the amorphous matrices, rather than of the crystalline particles. The hardening mechanism was explained based on the kinetics and thermodynamics.