Analysis of energy dissipation during shear-banding aids to understand plastic deformations of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs). For Zr55Al10Ni5Cu30 BMGs at 298 K. multi-step shearing is proposed, and the thermal energy during serrations cannot result in a temperature rise (Delta T) higher than T-m. At 77 K, N-step shearing is supposed. When N is in the range of 24-47, it is reasonable to deduce the resulting temperature from 0.8T(g) to T-m, accompanied by a continuous plastic deformation. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.