BULK METALLIC-GLASS MATRIX COMPOSITES

Composites with a bulk metallic glass matrix were synthesized and char acterized. This was made possible by the recent development of bulk me tallic glasses that exhibit high resistance to crystallization in the undercooled liquid state. In this letter, experimental methods for pro cessing metallic glass composites are introduced. Three different bulk metallic glass forming alloys were used as the matrix materials. Both ceramics and metals were introduced as reinforcement into the metalli c glass. The metallic glass matrix remained amorphous after adding up to a 30 vol% fraction of particles or short wires, X-ray diffraction p atterns of the composites show only peaks from the second phase partic les superimposed on the broad diffuse maxima from the amorphous phase. Optical micrographs reveal uniformly distributed particles in the mat rix. The glass transition of the amorphous matrix and the crystallizat ion behavior of the composites were studied by calorimetric methods. ( C) American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(97)02852-0].