Elastostatically induced structural disordering in amorphous alloys

This study demonstrates that elastostatic compression imposed on amorphous alloys at room temperature induces irreversible structural disordering. The rate of disordering depends on the atomic packing density as determined by the fraction of the material in short-range ordered (SRO) atomic environments. The structural disordering, measured experimentally by differential scanning calorimetry, in turn alters the mechanical properties of the material. A combination of experiments and molecular dynamics simulations are used to explore fundamental issues related to shear-induced disordering during elastostatic compression.