Elastic softening in amorphous materials

Abstract

We present a theory for elastic softening in amorphous materials. Assuming random orientations of unit cells, we consider the symmetry breaking of degenerate bands due to angle-dependent strains. The angle-averaged energy splitting between the strain-perturbed levels is obtained, and the elastic constant change is calculated as a function of temperature. It is shown that the elastic softening in amorphous materials is qualitatively similar to that in the crystalline case and satisfactorily explains the experimental data observed for alpha-Fe90Zr10.