Deformation behavior of a zirconium based metallic glass during cylindrical indentation: in situ observations

An experimental methodology was developed which is simple and yet accurately elucidates the stress-state dependency of the deformation behavior of metallic glasses or similar amorphous systems. The methodology includes in situ observations of the evolution of the deformation behavior of metallic glasses under a cylindrical indenter. The set-up not only collects information on the load–displacement response of the system to the deformation, but also resolves the much-needed information on the temporal and spatial evolution of the shear bands. By employing various indenter radii, the critical shear stress for the nucleation of the shear bands is obtained. Experimental results for a zirconium based metallic glass where found to be consistently independent of the indenter radius and in close agreement with the uniaxial yield values.