Strain rate-dependent compressive deformation and failure behavior of porous SiC/Ti-based metallic glass composite

The deformation and failure behavior of a porous SiC/Ti-based metallic glass composite were investigated under uniaxial compression over a wide strain rate range (~10−5 to ~103 s−1). Both the metallic glass and the SiC phase exhibited a three-dimensional (3D) interconnected net structure. The composite showed positive strain rate sensitivity when the strain rate increased from ~10−5 to ~10−3 s−1 under quasi-static compression as well as from 1.7×103 to 3.4×103 s−1 under dynamic compression. However, the fracture strength of the composite during quasi-static compression was much greater than that during dynamic compression. The fracture mode of the composite was a mixture of shearing and axial splitting under both quasi-static and dynamic compressions; the main cracks initiated at the interface between the two phases or within the SiC phase. The SiC phase and the metallic glass phase were highly constrained by each other, leading to a complicated stress state in the composite. The composite failed earlier under dynamic compression due to the cracks being initiated and propagated more quickly in comparison with quasi-static compression.