On the serrated behavior during plastic deformation of a Zr-based bulk metallic glass

Abstract

The uniaxial compression tests were conducted on an amorphous Zr-based alloy at room temperature. The results show that this alloy exhibited the typical features of metallic glasses and the stress-strain curve is extensively serrated within the plastic regime. The analysis reveals that for all the shear band events, the maximum stresses remained approximately constant during the course of plastic deformation, and the minimum stresses began to decrease when the deformation enters the late stage. This phenomenon is probably associated with the different shear-banding behaviors within various deformation stages. Calculations find that the stress accumulation sections in the stress-strain curve are parallel to each other, indicating that such reloading processes are elastic in nature. Therefore, there are elastic and plastic sections in the stress-strain curve. Further analysis discloses that the plastic strain component carried by each shear band event increases with the applied strain within the late deformation stage. © 2007 The Japan Institute of Metals.