Fracture toughness and notched toughness of bulk amorphous alloy: Zr-Ti-Ni-Cu-Be

The primary pupose of this investigation was to determine the fracture toughness of a bulk metallic glass utilizing conventional procedures typically conducted with engineering materials. In particular, the effects of changes in the notch root radius from 230 mu m to a fatigue precrack on the toughness were determined. It is shown presently that the average toughness obtained from six fatigue precracked specimens was 18.4plus/minus1.4MParoot m, while the notch toughness obtained on specimens with notch root radii ranging from 65-250 mu m were in the range of 101-131 MParoot m. The material studied in the present investigation was analyzed via wet chemistry technique to contain in wt.%: 10.1Ti, 9.65Ni, 14.2Cu, 3.47Be, balance Zr, while separate oxygen analysis revealed 1600 ppm oxygen.