Improved plasticity of bulk metallic glasses by electrodeposition

Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 (Vit 105) bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are coated with Ni films, costing different time for coating. The plasticity of coated Vit 105 BMGs is greatly improved. Experimental results reveal that coating thickness of Ni film is responsible for modifying the mechanical properties of BMG. For compressive tests, the corresponding plastic deformation of 3 hours-coating sample is 9%, which improves 7% than the uncoated sample. However, the compressive plasticity is reduced by 6 hours-coating with the thicker (100 μm) film. For bending tests, bending strength and fracture deflection are increasingly improved with the coating thickness of Ni-layer. The deformation mechanisms are investigated in detail.