Microstructural heterogeneity perspective on the yield strength of metallic glasses

We report an intrinsic universal correlation between yielding and dynamic activation of flow units in various metallic glasses, analogous to yielding in crystalline materials accompanied by activation of structural defects of dislocation. A transition point of yield strength when test temperature reaches a critical value is observed, and the evolution of the yield strength corresponds well to the evolution of activation energy and fraction of flow units with temperature, indicating the correlation between yield strength and intrinsic structural heterogeneity in glasses. We propose a model based on the flow units to understand the structural origin of yielding phenomenon and the nature of the yield strength. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.