The mechanical properties of a Zr55Cu30Al10Ni5 metallic glass rod are investigated by Vickers microhardness and depth-sensing nanoindentation. The alloy exhibits a relatively large hardness which decreases when increasing the maximum applied load. Serrated flow is also observed during nanoindentation. Both effects are related to deformationinduced mechanical softening.

It is not rare to observe an inverse relationship between hot strength determined from rolling load of the finishing stands of the hot strip mill and strain. This situation was already described in the literature and is explained by the use of inverse rolling load models that assumes sticking friction in the determination of hot strength. The aim of this work was to show that this “work softeni...

Virtually every soil "lives" in that all of its properties undergo changes with time some insignificant, but others very important. Time-dependent chemical, geomicrobiological, and mechanical processes may result in compositional and structural changes that lead to softening, stiffening, strength loss, strength gain, or altered conductivity properties. The need to predict what the properties an...

We show how to achieve large-amplitude oscillation and good frequency stability in a nonlinear NEMS oscillator by using a softening nonlinearity to locally balance the hardening behaviour of the Duffing nonlinearity for a given motion amplitude. The case when the softening behaviour is obtained via electrostatic biasing is theoretically investigated, under parallel-plate assumptions, for a full...