Vickers indentation tests in a Zr62.55Cu17.55Ni9.9Al10 bulk amorphous alloy

Vickers indentation tests were conducted on a Zr62.55Cu17.55Ni9.9Al10 bulk amorphous alloy to investigate the evolution of shear bands and its plastic deformation dimension via a bonded interface technique. Under all indentation loads, the plastic deformation is accommodated through semi-circular and radial shear bands. The plastic deformation dimension increases with increasing the indentation loads. A simplified λ=C(P)0.5 model was put forward to predict and estimate the plastic deformation dimension characterized by shear bands in the subsurface. For the Zr62.55Cu17.55Ni9.9Al10 amorphous alloy, C is about 15.314µm/N0.5. The normalized shear band zone is independent to the indentation load.