In this work, the effects of different preparation methods on the microstructures and properties of the Ti45.7Zr33Ni3Cu5.8Be12.5 alloy were systematically studied by both experimental and numerical ways. It is found that the heating methods and the cooling rate during the process of preparation have great influences not only on the morphology and crystalline structure of the solid solutions but also on the thermal stability of the amorphous phase. Furthermore, the different crystalline structures and micromorphologies of the ductile phase will also influence the mechanical properties. And the uniaxial compression tests at room temperature verify that the Ti45.7Zr33Ni3Cu5.8Be12.5 samples obtained by different preparation methods possess different degrees of plasticity. The better comprehensive properties were found for samples with a larger size under the copper mold cooling conditions. The variation of the morphology of the solid solution phase under different preparation conditions is believed to be the vital factor that leads to the diversity in properties.

High strength aluminum (Al) alloys were prepared by rapid solidification method in the Al–Ni–La system. Microstructural characterizations show that all the investigated Al–Ni–La alloys are comprised of Al, rod-like Al3Ni, and blocky Al11La3 phases, of which the size and volume fraction are composition-dependent. The Al85.5Ni9.5La5 (at.%) alloy shows the finest microstructure, which contributes to the highest strength along with considerable plasticity. The experimental analysis and finite element simulation (FES) show that the distribution of the intermetallic phases greatly affects the mechanical properties of the alloys. The rod-like Al3Ni phase precipitated with the locally uniform direction prevents the propagation of cracks and benefits the plastic deformation, whereas the blocky Al11La3 phase exhibits the nature of brittleness and acts as the origin of the microcrack initiation. These findings suggest a new method to design high strength Al alloys.

Amorphous alloys have high tensile strength and easy soft magnetization, and are corrosion-resistant. As conventional amorphous alloy strips are mainly produced by the single rolling method, their thickness is less than 100 µm and their width is less than 200 mm. By combining ultra-rapid cooling, large-scale thermal spraying and warm rolling, the world’s first ever amorphous alloy strips were produced with thickness exceeding 300 µm and width exceeding 300 mm.

Microstructural change in deformation bands was observed in a Ni-P amorphous alloy using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Bending strain was applied to a micro-sized cantilever beam specimen. A TEM specimen was prepared from the micro-sized specimen with keeping the information on the relationship between the deformed direction and the specimen orientation. TEM observation in deformation bands revealed that plastic deformation induces the precipitation of nanocrystalline Ni particles. An orientation relationship between deformation direction and crystal orientation was obtained, that is, a (111) plane of all crystalline particles are parallel to the side surface of the specimen.