In situ study of the evolution of atomic strain of bulk metallic glass and its effects on shear band formation

The tensile behavior of TiZrNiCuBe metallic glass was studied using synchrotron X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Shear band formation was carefully controlled by the introduction of a stress gradient due to a semi-circular notch. Micro- and atomic-level strains were calculated by the Q-space method and pair distribution function analysis, respectively. The atomic-pair strains for the area near the notch increase exponentially at the final deformation stage. This can be directly linked to the shear-induced dilatation resulting from the shear band formation.