Investigation of shear transformation zone and ductility of Zr-based bulk metallic glass after plasma-assisted hydrogenation

The shear transformation zone (STZ) and ductility of Zr-based bulk metallic glass with varying hydrogen content were analyzed using serrated flow in nanoindentation, with each serration representing the formation and expansion of one or more shear bands. An exponential model was employed to extract the serrations and obtain a certain range of shear stress, and STZ size was estimated via thorough statistical data analysis. The experimental...