Mechanical Properties and Deformation Behaviors of Metallic Glasses Investigated by Atomic-Level Simulations

The chapter reviewed recent developments about intrinsic structure of metallic glasses and their mechanical properties at atomic level, with an emphasis on making connections between developments in theory and simulations. Topics covered the follow- ing: structure analysis on metallic glasses with methods of pair distribution function, Honeycutt-Andersen analysis, and Voronoi tessellation; the connection of structure with the mechanical properties; shear band initiation and the development at the atomic level; and deformation mode transition from cast metallic glasses to reconstructed nanoglasses. These works provided theoretical understanding on the essence of metallic glasses’ mechanical properties and deformation behaviors, and offered promises for more exten - sive applications of metallic glasses.