Excellent work-hardening in ZrCu/NiNb amorphous/amorphous nanolaminates

Abstract Work-hardening behavior could be rarely observed in amorphous alloys during plastic deformation because the dilation and softening effect often occur in shear bands. Here, we proposed a novel mechanism to realize an excellent work-hardening rate ( R = dσ de ) in ZrCu/NiNb amorphous/amorphous nanolaminates (A/ANLs), which is investigated by in-situ uniaxial micro-pillar compression tests. The work-hardening rate value (25.24 GPa) obtained in ZrCu/NiNb A/ANLs with single layer thickness (h) 5 nm and volume ration 1:1, is relatively high, when comparing with the values in other results that considered the effect of crystalline phases and structural heterogeneity on work-hardening rate in composites. Such a high work-hardening effect is attributed to serious suppression of shear transformation zones (STZs) percolation by amorphous/amorphous interfaces. This work-hardening effect increased sharply as h decreases to 5 nm.