Development of in-situ β-Ti reinforced Be-free Ti–based bulk metallic glass matrix composites

In this paper, in-situ β-Ti phase reinforced (Al, Ni, Be)-free Ti-based bulk metallic glass matrix composites (BMGMCs) were developed by microalloying Mo. The BMGMCs showed higher fracture strength and larger plastic strain than the monolithic glassy counterpart and other Be-free Ti-based BMGMCs, under both compression and bending tests. The ductile and soft β-Ti secondary phase appeared to hinder the rapid propagation of the main shear band, improving the plasticity. Furthermore, the size and interparticle spacing of the secondary β-Ti were very close to the processing zone size, further stabilizing the shear band against developing into cracks and thus improving mechanical properties. But under tension, no obvious ductilization was observed for the BMGMCs, maybe resulting from the lower volume fraction of β-Ti phase because of higher cooling rate during the fabrication for them. Further work should be focused on optimizing the composition and increasing the volume fraction of β-Ti phase and sample size.