Strain localization in annealed Cu50Zr50 metallic glass

A molecular dynamics simulation technique was used to investigate the atomic structural changes in Cu50Zr50 metallic glass during isothermal annealing, with the aim of clarifying the mechanism responsible for the reduction of the plasticity experimentally observed during uniaxial loading of heat-treated Cu50Zr50. The atomic strain during shear deformation was calculated for the as-cast and annealed samples to evaluate the degree of strain localization, which affects the global plasticity of the alloys. The validity of the normalized relaxation heat parameter used to evaluate the degree of strain localization has been verified during elastostatic compression. The variation of the potential energy in the elastic regime, which was found to be correlated to the degree of strain localization, is proposed as parameter to evaluate by computational simulation the ability of an amorphous alloy to deform plastically.