Stable flowing of localized shear bands in soft bulk metallic glasses

This paper reports a novel class of Zr–Cu–Fe–Al bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with high Zr content and unusual deformation behavior. Higher content of Zr results in lower hardness, but favors the generation of highly localized shear bands, even if nanocrystalline phases precipitate in the glassy matrix. Moreover, flow of the dominant shear band proceeds slowly under compressive stress without rapid shear rupture and facture. The unusual deformation behavior suggests that designing BMG with a high content of solvent element and low hardness might be a promising new way of developing ductile BMG.