Mesoscopic theory of shear banding and crack propagation in metallic glasses

We propose a phenomenological theory to model shear banding, shear-band propagation and branching on mesoscopic scales in metallic glasses by using Ginzburg-Landau formulism. The disordering caused by mechanical or thermal agitation is represented by atomic volume dilatation and used as an order parameter. This model captures several important features in the deformation process, namely, shear localization or banding, shear-band propagation and branching, and crack propagation and its velocity. We also assessed the relation between the crack propagation velocity and local heating and the connection between the serrated flow and shear band branching.