Cryogenic-temperature-induced transition from shear to dilatational failure in metallic glasses

At temperatures well below the glass transition temperature, the failure of metallic glasses is generally induced by shear banding, which is a result of the self-organized shear transformation zones (STZs). Here, we demonstrate that, upon cooling down to liquid helium temperature (4.2 K), a Zr-based bulk metallic glass under quasi-static uniaxial tension can fracture via cavitation, rather than by shear banding, showing a transition from shear-...