Energy storage oscillation of metallic glass induced by high-intensity elastic stimulation

Thermomechanical processing of metallic glasses can, remarkably, induce significant changes in structure and properties, even when the imposed macroscopic strains are well within the elastic regime. The changes can take the glasses to higher-energy "rejuvenated" or lower-energy "aged" states, with rejuvenation being of particular interest as it improves their mechanical properties. It has generally been assumed that the induced property changes would evolve monotonically with the extent of processing. We show that with sufficiently intense ultrasonic elastic processing, the intrinsic structural competition between damage and repair facilitated by increased atomic mobility can lead to oscillatory energy storage. The uncovering of this behavior forces reconsideration about the range of energy states attainable in metallic glasses by elastic deformation and may provide opportunities.