Mechanical behavior of metallic glasses: Microscopic understanding of strength and ductility

The widespread enthusiasm for research on bulk metallic glasses is driven by both a fundamental interest in the structure and properties of disordered materials and their unique promise for structural and functional applications. Unlike the case for crystalline materials, the disordered and nonequilibrium nature of metallic glasses causes their underlying deformation mechanisms to be poorly known. A definite correlation between mechanical behavior and the atomic/electronic structures of metallic glasses has not been established. In this article, I focus on the micromechanisms of mechanical behavior of metallic glasses and present a brief overview of the current understanding of their strength, ductility, and plasticity at the microscopic and atomic scales. The important factors that control the mechanical behavior of metallic glasses are outlined on the basis of recent theoretical and experimental findings. The outstanding issues highlighted in this review are expected to be important for future research on the mechanical properties of metallic glasses.