Advances in the Evolution of the Fracture Morphologies of Metallic Glasses

Both the large elasticity and high strength make metallic glasses (MGs) an ideal model for studying the strength theory of high-strength materials. But the poor plasticity greatly limits the application of MGs. During the past few decades, many researchers have tried to solve this catastrophic fracture by developing new components, structural rejuvenation or surface regulation. Although some enhancements of plasticity have been achieved, the mechanism of brittle fracture of MGs is still not clear. Generally, study on the evolution of fracture features is usually an effective method to uncover the failure mechanism of metal materials. Compared with crystalline alloys, MGs exhibit extremely rich and complex fracture behaviors, one typical of which is that the fracture morphologies can present a cross-scale diversity from micro-scale vein patterns, sub-micron dimples to nano-scale periodic corrugations. In this letter, the recently studies on the evolution of fracture features of MGs have been summarized and some unsolved issues associated with the fractural morphologies of MGs are proposed.