Elasto-plastic behavior of amorphous materials: a brief review

Abstract

Disordered materials, like metallic glasses or silicate glasses, have an atomistic amorphous structure preventing the formation of extended defects such as dislocations. Irreversible deformation in these materials is thus localized, but can organize along shear bands. In this brief review, based on recent publications, we will see if local plasticity can be measured and predicted in disordered atomic assemblies, and in what conditions it can be related to preexisting structural defects. We will then draw a general picture of the plastic mechanical behaviour within the theoretical framework of mechanical instabilities. Finally, we will focus our attention on different scenarii for shear banding in glasses.