the fact that, for real materials, the size of the crystal par- ticle is usually 3 to 50 nm and the volume fraction is 5 to 40%. Models B and C have the same particle size but
diferent crystal volume fractions, as do Models D, E and
F. On the other hand, Models A, C and F have the same
crystal volume fraction but diferent particle sizes, as do
Models B, D and G. As mentioned above, the simula-
tion models were defined such that the efects of parti-
cle size and volume fraction can be discussed separately.
Model H contains no crystal phase. Since element b was used for the crystal particle, the atomic fraction of ele- ment b increases as the crystal volume fraction increases. The atomic fraction of element b in the amorphous phase should be decreased in order to rigorously compare the
particle size and volume fraction efects on the mechanical
properties under the same composition. However, element
b has intermediate properties between those of elements a
and c; thus we consider that the efect of increasing atomic
fraction of element b is small. We also confirmed that
the stress-strain curve of the amorphous block composed of elements a and c is very close to that for the three- component amorphous block. In order to understand the
strain rate efects, the loading simulations were performed