Free Volume Contributing to the Different Yield Behaviors between Tension and Compression Deformations in Metallic Glasses

The different deformation behaviors in the yield stage, in particular, of metallic glasses under uniaxial tension and compression are investigated from an atomic structural perspective, by applying both experimental and simulation methods. A new computational approach for quantitatively calculating free volumes (FVs) in structural models is developed, based on which the manner in which FVs contribute to deformation is studied. It is found that FVs have different expansion behaviors in terms of their saturation sizes and corresponding strain values, which are essential structural causes of different yield behaviors in these two deformations in metallic glasses.