Bulk and microscale compressive properties of a Pd-based metallic glass

We present quasi-static, room temperature compression data for Pd40Ni40P20 metallic glasses for both bulk and microscale specimens. At all sizes, plastic flow is localized in shear bands which are accompanied by sudden strain bursts in the microscale tests. We show a modest (∼9%) increase in the 0.2% offset yield strength in going from bulk specimens to the smallest measured (∼2 μm), and attribute this increase to the effect of defects on shear band initiation, rather than to an intrinsic length scale dependence of plastic deformation.