Consolidation of Cu54Ni6Zr22Ti18 bulk amorphous alloy powders

Spherical Cu54Ni6Zr22Ti18 metallic glass powders were prepared using a high-pressure gas atomizer, followed by consolidation using spark plasma sintering (SPS) process. The glass forming ability of both powders as atomized and bulks as SPSed was investigated by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) as a function of powder size distribution. The bulk maintains the amorphous structure even after the thermal consolidation. The compressive strength was increased as the powder size decreased due to an increased density. The compression tested BMG presents a fracture pattern occurred along the maximum shear plane declined ~45 deg to the loading direction.