Shear band-mediated fatigue cracking mechanism of metallic glass at high stress level

The evolution processes from shear banding to fatigue cracking and fracture in Zr52.5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10Ti5 metallic glass were directly investigated by quasi-in situ cyclic compression-compression experiment. The results confirm that at high stress level fatigue crack initiated from and propagated along shear band. The cracking evolution on sample surface matches well with the different regions on the fatigue fracture surface. Furthermore, the formation of shear band and fatigue crack seems to be easier under cyclic loading than that under monotonic compression.