A coarse-grained spring network model is proposed for the prediction of the mechanical response of metallic glasses as a function of the microstructure prior to loading. This model describes the mechanical response of metallic glasses using a network of parallel springs that can break and reform, mimicking atomic rearrangements during deformation. We compare predictions of the spring network model for stress versus strain to results from numerical simulations of athermal quasistatic, uniaxial tensile deformation of Cu50Zr50 metallic glasses using Lennard-Jones (LJ) and embedded atom method (EAM) atomic interactions. We show that both the LJ and EAM models possess qualitatively similar stress sigma versus strain gamma curves. By specifying five parameters [ultimate strength, strain at ultimate strength, slopes of sigma(gamma) at gamma = 0 and at large strain, and strain at fracture where sigma = 0], we demonstrate that the spring network model can accurately describe the form of the stress-strain curves during uniaxial tension for the computational studies of Cu50Zr50, as well as recent experimental studies of several Zr-based metallic glasses.
