Rockwell Indentation Enhances Local Strain in Tensile-Deformed Metallic Glasses via Seeded Shear Bands

The effect of Rockwell indentation on local strain behavior in bulk metallic glasses during tensile loading was studied experimentally with in situ synchrotron X-ray pair distribution function and computationally with molecular dynamics simulations. Both the experiment and simulation show that the indented zone undergoes more strain than the unindented zone in the same sample. Optical micrographs reveal that the indentation produces tiny shear bands with a variety of orientations around each indent and that these seeded shear bands expand upon subsequent tensile loading. The results suggest that Rockwell indentation can be used to introduce shear bands and tailor the mechanical response of a metallic glass around specific locations.