Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Fracture processes have been studied in a fully crystallized Co84Nb10B6 glass, with the mean grain size ranging from 43 nm to 0.65 μm. Tensile tested specimens with a mean grain size≥ 0.3 μm showed a ductile (dimple) fracture with microvoids initiated at the boride-cobalt matrix interfaces. As the mean grain size (more correctly, the corresponding mean free path of the deforming cobalt phase) was ≤ 0.1 μm, the fracture process may be similarly initiated by the microvoid formation at the boride-cobalt interface. However, one-to-one correspondence between dimples and boride particles may not be preserved. As a result, dimples become more shallow and may include several boride particles instead. Although the fracture surface of the brittle fine grained Co84Nb10B6 alloy gives an appearance of a cleavage fracture on a macroscale, it is distinctly different, by allowing for the microvoid formation on a microscale.