Structural rejuvenation in a bulk metallic glass induced by severe plastic deformation

Using high-energy X-ray diffraction we examined the atomic structure in bulk metallic glass samples which underwent severe plastic deformation by the high-pressure torsion (HPT) technique. We obtained the atomic pair distribution function (PDF) and determined the changes in the PDFs due to deformation. The observed changes in the PDF clearly show structural disordering, which suggests structural rejuvenation by heavy deformation. However, the changes cannot be explained simply in terms of creating excess free volume, and they indicate that much more extensive atomic rearrangements take place as a consequence of deformation. Also, we suggest that the observed structural change may well be an outcome of local heating due to deformation and may not directly provide the knowledge of the atomistic mechanism of strain localization.