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Advances in alloy development have produced the Zr_(35)Ti_(30)Be_(27.5)Cu_(7.5) alloy with a crystallization–glass transition temperature, ΔT, of 165 °C. This alloy’s large supercooled liquid region provides the longest processing times and lowest processing viscosities of any metallic glass and was injection molded using tooling based on plastic injection molding technology. Injection-molded beams and die-cast beams were tested in three-point bending. The average modulus of rupture (MOR) was found to be similar, while injection-molded beams had a smaller standard deviation in MOR.

The configurational properties associated with the transition from anelasticity to plasticity in a transiently deforming metallic glass-forming liquid are studied. The data reveal that the underlying transition kinetics for flow can be separated into reversible and irreversible configurational hopping across the liquid energy landscape, identified with beta and alpha relaxation processes, respectively. A critical stress characterizing the transition is recognized as an effective Eshelby "backstress," revealing a link between the apparent anelasticity and the "confinement stress" of the elastic matrix surrounding the plastic core of a shear transformation zone.