Evaluation of Cu-Zr-Ti-In Bulk Metallic Glasses via Nanoindentation

In this paper, the mechanical properties of two bulk metallic glasses, Cu60Zr34Ti5In1 and Cu58Zr34Ti5In3, have been evaluated by nanoindentation tests. The hardness and Young’s modulus of as-cast Cu60Zr34Ti5In1 bulk metallic glass increase from the center to the edge of the rod, but Cu58Zr34Ti5In3 shows an inverse trend. The Young’s modulus of Cu58Zr34Ti5In3 is lower than that of Cu60Zr34Ti5In1. For both bulk metallic glasses, serrations on the nanoindentation load-displacement curves depend not only on loading rate but also on the maximum load. Alternatively, the onset position of the appearance of serrations on the curves increases with the loading rate. In addition, the hardness of both samples decreases as the size of the indent increases due to indentation size effects.