Interactions of Shear Bands in a Ductile Metallic Glass

Shear bands play a key role in the plastic deformation of metallic glasses (MGs). Even though there are extensive studies on the initiation and propagation of shear bands, the interactions among them have not been systematically studied yet. The interactions between the primary shear bands (PSBs) and secondary shear bands (SSBs) in a ductile Zr-based MG were studied. The residual stress near PSBs can deflect the propagation direction and reduce the propagation velocity of SSBs, which contributes to the plasticity and toughness of the MG. It was demonstrated that the probability and strength of the interactions between PSBs and SSBs would become stronger for MGs with larger Young's modulus and smaller shear modulus, i.e., larger Poisson's ratio. These results are valuable in understanding the plastic deformation of MGs and may be helpful in designing new MGs with desirable mechanical properties.