Homogeneous deformation of bulk amorphous alloys during elastostatic compression and its packing density dependence

Abstract

This study demonstrates that preloading via the elastostatic compression of amorphous alloys at room temperature causes permanent deformation, the degree of which was positively correlated with the atomic packing density. This deformation is characterized by homogeneous flow and is proposed to occur as a result of irreversible structural disordering, in which densely packed short-range ordered clusters break down to form new, loosely packed ones, causing the creation of free volume. The physics underlying these findings are interpreted from the molecular dynamics viewpoint. (c) 2008 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.