It is known that the failure of amorphous metallic materials under uniaxial tensile stress at temperatures much lower than the glass transition temperature is preceded by an intense shear deformation localized into narrow bands [1,2]. These bands lie near the planes of maximum shear stresses. Significant changes in the original structure, taking place during the process of a local shear deformation inside the bands, leads to a considerable decrease in the viscosity [3]. Because of this, the sample will fail under the influence of tensile stress in one of these shear bands.However, the real fracture surface is more complicated and is not formed by a single shear band. The crack propagates alternatively in two equal-stress planes of maximum shear stresses, which are perpendicular to each other (Fig. 1). No information on the origin of this phenomenon can be found in the literature.The aim of our work was to suggest a possible clarification of this phenomenon. We measured the dependence of the lengths of the sections in which the crack propagated in one of the two possible planes, on temperature. For measurements we used samples of NisoSil0B10 and NisoSisBl5 amorphous ribbons, on which the fracture toughness at temperatures of 4.2, 77, 200 and 300K had been measured earlier [4]. Lengths of those fracture-surface sections in which the crack propagated in a single shear plane, were measured using an optical microscope. This was possible because in a side view of the fracture-surface edge, the alternation of shear planes is manifested by the alternate bright and dark areas. To eliminate the influence of the ribbon edges we did not measure the fracture sections in the vicinity of these edges. On each sample, approximately the first eight sections behind the fatigue crack tip were measured in both directions of crack propagation.The results of these measurements are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. We found that in 98% of all measurements the length of the first section, L1, behind the fatigue crack tip was much greater than any of the following lengths, L2to8. Fig. 2 shows the dependence of mean values £1 and [2to8 for both alloys, on temperature. Statistical t-test confirmed a significant difference between mean values IS 1 and £2to8 for all temperatures on both alloys. On the other hand, this test did not reject the hypothesis that the mean values £2to8 are equal for different temperatures. It was confirmed that the mean length of the sections, in which the crack Figure 1 At shear failure of the amorphous metal ribbons under uniaxial tension the crack propagates alternatively along two planes of maximum shear stresses.propagates in a single shear plane is --at a given deformation rate (4 = 5 × 10-Ssec ~) -independent of temperature. Figure 3 shows the relative occurrence of lengths L2to8 for both alloys. The form of the statistical distribution is close to the log-normal distribution, as confirmed by a g2-test.The explanation of the observed phenomena should be sought in the process of the formation of an inhomogeneous plastic...