Metallic glasses (MGs) possess remarkably high strength but often display only minimal tensile ductility due to the formation of catastrophic shear bands. Purposely enhancing the inherent heterogeneity to promote distributed flow offers new possibilities in improving the ductility of monolithic MGs. Here, we report the effect of the spatial heterogeneity of elasticity, resulting from the inherently inhomogeneous amorphous structures, on the deformation behavior of MGs, specifically focusing on the ductility using multiscale modeling methods. A highly heterogeneous, Gaussian-type shear modulus distribution at the nanoscale is revealed by atomistic simulations in Cu₆₄Zr₃₆ MGs, in which the soft population of the distribution exhibits a marked propensity to undergo the inelastic shear transformation. By employing a mesoscale shear transformation zone dynamics model, we find that the organization of such nanometer-scale shear transformation events into shear-band patterns is dependent on the spatial heterogeneity of the local shear moduli. A critical spatial correlation length of elastic heterogeneity is identified for the simulated MGs to achieve the best tensile ductility, which is associated with a transition of shear-band formation mechanisms, from stress-dictated nucleation and growth to structure-dictated strain percolation, as well as a saturation of elastically soft sites participating in the plastic flow. This discovery is important for the fundamental understanding of the role of spatial heterogeneity in influencing the deformation behavior of MGs. We believe that this can facilitate the design and development of new ductile monolithic MGs by a process of tuning the inherent heterogeneity to achieve enhanced ductility in these high-strength metallic alloys.

金属玻璃（MGs）具有极高的强度，但由于形成灾难性的剪切带，通常仅表现出最小的拉伸延展性。故意增强固有异质性以促进分布流为改善整体式MG的延展性提供了新的可能性。在这里，我们报告了由固有的不均匀非晶结构导致的弹性空间异质性对MG变形行为的影响，特别是使用多尺度建模方法着重于延展性。通过Cu ₆₄ Zr _36中的原子模拟揭示了纳米级的高度非均质高斯型剪切模量分布MG，其中分布的软种群显示出明显的经历非弹性剪切转变的倾向。通过采用中尺度的剪切转变带动力学模型，我们发现将这种纳米尺度的剪切转变事件组织成剪切带模式的组织取决于局部剪切模量的空间异质性。为模拟的MG确定了弹性异质性的关键空间相关长度，以实现最佳的拉伸延展性，这与剪切带形成机理的转变有关，从应力控制的形核和生长到结构控制的应变渗滤，以及作为参与塑性流动的弹性软位的饱和度。这一发现对于从根本上理解空间异质性在影响MG变形行为中的作用非常重要。我们相信，通过调整固有的异质性以提高这些高强度金属合金的延展性，这可以促进新的延性整体式MG的设计和开发。