Mechanical properties of Cu-Zr multi-composition nanoglasses

Nanoglasses can be produced by consolidation of glassy nanoparticles which are prepared by inert-gas condensation. The microstructure of nanoglasses consists of glassy regions separated by glass-glass interfaces. These interfaces influence many properties of nanoglasses such as mechanical properties. It is know that the bulk metallic glasses with different composition response differently to the external load. In this work, we perform molecular dynamics simulations to address the question whether the composition of glassy nanoparticles could affect the mechanical properties of nanoglasses. We prepare multi-composition nanoglasses by compaction of several Cu-Zr glassy nanoparticles which have different composition. We discuss the behavior of the multi-composition nanoglasses during the mechanical tests in terms of local atomic strain and the atomic structure of the glassy nanoparticles forming the nanoglass.