Voronoi volume recovery during plastic deformation in deep-notched metallic glasses

Many previous simulations of the plastic deformation in metallic glasses showed that shear banding is the dominant mode accompanied by Voronoi volume continuous generation and softening. In the present work, we report a contrary phenomenon where Voronoi volume recovery is dominant during plastic deformation in CuZr metallic glasses under tension. By creating a notched geometry, the deformation mode of notched samples transits from shear banding to necking due to the introduction of triaxial stress state. With the suppressing of shear banding, a notch strengthening and structure ordering phenomenon together with the recovery of Cu-centered full-icosahedra fraction are also observed. The present work enriches our understanding on the mechanical behavior and deformation mechanism of metallic glasses.