Severe plastic deformation influence on the structure transformation of the amorphous Zr62.5Сu22.5Al10Fe5 alloy.

The paper analyzes the effect of severe plastic deformation on the structure, mechanical and thermal properties as well as crystallization process of a Zr 62.5 Сu 22.5 Al 10 Fe 5 alloy. High pressure torsion (HPT) induces local atomic changes and accumulates the formation of inhomogeneous chemical regions. The mechanically treated alloy structure is generally complex. The residual glassy matrix contains nanocrystalline particles. The structural changes observed during the HPT process lead to significant changes in the crystallization process. The effect of shear strain on crystallization of the Zr 62.5 Сu 22.5 Al 10 Fe 5 alloy and its properties was studied in detail using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) methods. • HPT leads to the formation of an inhomogeneous amorphous structure. • High strain radically changes the process of thermal solidification of the alloy. • Inhomogeneous amorphous structure is the reason for the high increase in hardness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]