Recent studies showed that structural changes in amorphous alloys under high pressure torsion (HPT) are determined by their chemical composition and processing regimes. For example, HPT treatment of some amorphous alloys leads to their nanocrystallization; in other alloys, nanocrystallization was not observed, but structural transformations of the amorphous phase were revealed. HPT processing resulted in its modification by introducing interfaces due to the formation of shear bands. In this case, the alloys after HPT processing remained amorphous, but a cluster-type structure was formed. The origin of the observed changes in the structure and properties of amorphous alloys is associated with the chemical separation and evolution of free volume in the amorphous phase due to the formation of a high density of interfaces as a result of HPT processing. Amorphous metal alloys with a nanocluster structure and nanoscale inhomogeneities, representatives of which are nanoglasses, significantly differ in their physical and mechanical properties from conventional amorphous materials. The results presented in this review show that the severe plastic deformation (SPD) processing can be one of the efficient ways for producing a nanocluster structure and improving the properties of amorphous alloys.

The influence of thermal cycling (TC) with a large number of cycles on the microstructure, the parameters of martensitic transformations (MTs), and the mechanical properties of a Ti-50.8 at.% Ni shape-memory alloy in coarse-grained (CG) and ultrafine-grained (UFG) states was investigated. The effect of microstructural and mechanical stability was found in both coarse-grained and ultrafine-grained states starting from the 100th cycle of martensitic transformations. In addition, an unusual temperature change was observed in martensitic transformations occurring with the formation of an intermediate R phase.

Vit105 (Zr_52.5Cu_17.9Ni_14.6Al₁₀Ti₅ at. %) bulk metallic glass samples were processed by high-pressure torsion and accumulative high-pressure torsion. By DSC, XRD and SANS methods it was shown that accumulative high-pressure torsion allows for achieving high real strains and leads to an increase in the free volume and significant transformation of the structure. Minor crystallization was detected after high-pressure torsion processing.