Production and Mechanical Properties of Roll Bonded Bulk Metallic Glass/Aluminum Laminates

Twin roll casting has been used to produce sheet of Mg₆₀Cu₂₉Gd₁₁ bulk metallic glass (BMG). Sheet can be produced with thicknesses between 1 and 4 mm, the width of sheet produced can be between 25 and 75 mm. The dimensional stability of the produced sheet in a cast run is ±1 mm in the width direction and ±0.05 mm in the thickness direction. As with all magnesium-based BMGs the sheet produced is strong yet brittle at room temperature. The maximum flexural stress of a twin roll cast Mg₆₀Cu₂₉Gd₁₁ BMG strip is 150 MPa with a flexural strain of 0.005. The Charpy impact energy of a Mg₆₀Cu₂₉Gd₁₁ BMG strip is 0.02 J. In order to improve the toughness values of the Mg₆₀Cu₂₉Gd₁₁, BMG strip laminates of BMG and aluminum alloy (UNS A91100) were produced via roll bonding. The introduction of aluminum layers to the sheet structure provides a barrier to shear band movement stopping the sudden catastrophic failure of the sheet. After rolling the BMG was examined via X-ray diffraction (XRD) to confirm that the BMG layer remained amorphous. The flexural stress, flexural strain, and Charpy impact energy properties of BMG-Al laminates are improved when compared to monolithic glass properties. The flexural stress values for laminates compared to the monolithic glass improve by 60 pct from 150 to 250 MPa. The flexural strain values improve by over an order of magnitude from 0.005 to 0.14. The Charpy impact energies increase by 2 orders of magnitude from 0.02 to 2.5 J.