Fig. 4: Tensile tests on Zr₅₅Cu₃₀Al₁₀Ni₅ (Zr55) bulk metallic glass (BMG) under a strain rate of 2 × 10^‒4 s⁻¹ and pulsed currents of different pulse width t_w = 10, 40, 80, and 100 ms.

The pulsed currents are of a constant current density i = 33 A·mm^‒2 and a constant pulse width vs. pulse period ratio: t_w/t_p = 1:40. a True stress–strain (SS) curves; b real-time temperature profiles during tensile tests; c typical stress serrations from the SS curve of t_w = 100 ms, and the corresponding evolution of the displacement of BMG specimen plotted in time domain, correlating well with the passing through of current pulses; d typical temperature serrations from the temperature profile of t_w = 100 ms, and the corresponding evolution of the displacement of BMG specimen plotted in time domain. After the jump in Δt₁, the specimen displacement does not continuously increase when the specimen temperature maintains a high value in Δt₂, confirming that the homogeneous deformation is independent of the temperature rise.