Evolution of hidden localized flow during glass-to-liquid transition in metallic glass

• Published in: Nature communications 2014-12, Vol.5 (1), p.5823-5823, Article 5823
• Main Authors: Wang, Z., Sun, B. A., Bai, H. Y., Wang, W. H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/301/119/2795; 639/766/189; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6823

For glasses, the structural origin of their flow phenomena, such as elastic and plastic deformations especially the microscopic hidden flow before yield and glass-to-liquid transition (GLT), is unclear yet due to the lack of structural information. Here we investigate the evolution of the microscopic localized flow during GLT in a prototypical metallic glass combining with dynamical mechanical relaxations, temperature-dependent tensile experiments and stress relaxation spectra. We show that the unstable and high mobility nano-scale liquid-like regions acting as flow units persist in the glass and can be activated by either temperature or external stress. The activation of such flow units is initially reversible and correlated with β-relaxation. As the proportion of the flow units reaches a critical percolation value, a mechanical brittle-to-ductile transition or macroscopic GLT happens. A comprehensive picture on the hidden flow as well as its correlation with deformation maps and relaxation spectrum is proposed. Glasses are known to have very slow flow behaviour on application of force, but the structural basis for this flow is currently unclear. Here Wang et al. use a dynamic mechanical analysis to study the flow phenomena in a La-based metallic glass.