| Abstract Scope |
The understanding and quantification of plasticity in crystalline metals, which has led to their widespread and effective usage as a structural material, is lacking in metallic glasses (MGs). Here, we introduce such a framework for plasticity. This very practical framework is based on a MGs’ ability to support stable shear band growth, quantified in a stress gradient, ∇σ_US, which we measure and calculate for a range of MGs. Whether a MG deforms plastically prior to fracture or only elastic in an application is determined by the comparison between ∇σ_US and the applied stress field gradient, ∇σ_app; if ∇σ_US>∇σ_app, the MG can only deform elastic prior to fracture, if ∇σ_US<∇σ_app, the MG can plastically deform, and ∇σ_app-∇σ_US indicates the magnitude of plasticity. This framework can explain observed plastic properties of MGs. Looking forward, proposed framework provides first MG specific constitutive relation to quantitatively model their plastic behavior in any application. |