Microscopic study of formation and mechanical properties of amorphous Cu

The microscopic mechanism of the formation and mechanical behavior of amorphous Cu were studied by using molecular dynamics simulation method. The radial distribution function (RDF) and the pair analysis (PA) technique were used to characterize the structure of Cu during solidification. The splitting of the second peak of the RDF in amorphous state, is caused mainly by the increase of 2101, 2211, 2331 pairs. Simulations of tension and shear tests show that the deformation of the amorphous Cu is similar to that of crystalline metals. However, the microscopic mechanism of deformation of amorphous metal is different from that of crystals. In order to understand the microscopic mechanism, the statistical evolution of microscopic number density was analyzed. It was found that the evolution of microscopic density presents inhomogeneity, which may play an important role in the deformation.