https://www.tcd.ie/Physics/people/Graham.Cross/SF%20Poster%202011/Schuh-ActaMater07-Mechanical%20behaviour%20of%20amorphous%20alloys.pdf

Mechanical behavior of amorphous alloys

In comparing a material's resistance to distort under mechanical load rather than to alter in volume, Poisson's ratio offers the fundamental metric by which to compare the performance of any material when strained elastically. The numerical limits are set by ½ and -1, between which all stable isotropic materials are found. With new experiments, computational methods and routes to materials synthesis, we assess what Poisson's ratio means in the contemporary understanding of the mechanical characteristics of modern materials. Central to these recent advances, we emphasize the significance of relationships outside the elastic limit between Poisson's ratio and densification, connectivity, ductility and the toughness of solids; and their association with the dynamic properties of the liquids from which they were condensed and into which they melt.

/pdf/poisson-s-ratio-and-modern-materials-96egici4f6.pdf

Poisson's ratio and modern materials

Atomic-level structure and structure–property relationship in metallic glasses

Shear-banding is a ubiquitous plastic-deformation mode in materials. In metallic glasses, shear bands are particularly important as they play the decisive role in controlling plasticity and failure at room temperature. While there have been several reviews on the general mechanical properties of metallic glasses, a pressing need remains for an overview focused exclusively on shear bands, which have received tremendous attention in the past several years. This article attempts to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date review on the rapid progress achieved very recently on this subject. We describe the shear bands from the inside out, and treat key materials-science issues of general interest, including the initiation of shear localization starting from shear transformations, the temperature and velocity reached in the propagating or sliding band, the structural evolution inside the shear-band material, and the parameters that strongly influence shear-banding. Several new discoveries and concepts, such as stick-slip cold shear-banding and strength/plasticity enhancement at sub-micrometer sample sizes, will also be highlighted. The understanding built-up from these accounts will be used to explain the successful control of shear bands achieved so far in the laboratory. The review also identifies a number of key remaining questions to be answered, and presents an outlook for the field.

Shear bands in metallic glasses

The elastic properties, elastic models and elastic perspectives of metallic glasses

We report a brittle Mg-based bulk metallic glass which approaches the ideal brittle behavior. However, a dimple structure is observed at the fracture surface by high resolution scanning electron microscopy, indicating some type of "ductile" fracture mechanism in this very brittle glass. We also show, from the available data, a clear correlation between the fracture toughness and plastic process zone size for various glasses. The results indicate that the fracture in brittle metallic glassy materials might also proceed through the local softening mechanism but at different length scales.

Fracture of brittle metallic glasses: brittleness or plasticity.

We report cerium-based bulk metallic glasses with an exceptionally low glass transition temperature Tg, similar to or lower than that of many polymers. We demonstrate that, in near-boiling water, these materials can be repeatedly shaped, and can thus be regarded as metallic plastics. Their resistance to crystallization permits extended forming times above Tg and ensures an adequate lifetime at room temperature. Such materials, combining polymerlike thermoplastic behavior with the distinctive properties of metallic glasses, are highly unusual for metallic alloys and have great potential in applications and can also facilitate studies of the supercooled liquid state.

Amorphous metallic plastic.

Out-of-plane, nanoscale periodic corrugations are observed in the dynamic fracture surface of brittle bulk metallic glasses with fracture toughness approaching that of silica glasses. A model based on the meniscus instability and plastic zone theory is used to explain such dynamic crack instability. The results indicate that the local softening mechanism in the fracture is an essential ingredient for controlling the formation of the unique corrugations, and might provide a new insight into the origin of fracture surface roughening in brittle materials.

M. X. Pan

Papers

Fracture of brittle metallic glasses: brittleness or plasticity.

Amorphous metallic plastic.

Nanoscale periodic morphologies on the fracture surface of brittle metallic glasses