More Like this

1. Deviations from Theoretical Orientation Relationship Along Tensile Twin Boundaries in Magnesium

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36647-6_20  

   Leu, Brandon; Arul Kumar, M.; Liu, Y.; Beyerlein, I. J. (April 2020, Magnesium technology)

   Deformation twinning is a prevalent mode of plastic deformation in hexagonal close packed (HCP) magnesium. Twin domains are associated with significant lattice reorientation and localized shear. The theoretical misorientation angle for the most common 1012 tensile twin in magnesium is 86.3°. Through electron backscatter diffraction characterization of twinning microstructure, we show that the twin boundary misorientation at the twin tips is approximately 85°, and it is close to the theoretical value only along the central part of the twin. The variations in twin/matrix misorientation along the twin boundary control the twin thickening process by affecting the nucleation, glide of twinning partials, and migration of twinning facets. To understand this observation, we employ a 3D crystal plasticity model with explicit twinning. The model successfully captures the experimentally observed misorientation variation, and it reveals that the twin boundary misorientation variations are governed by the local plasticity that accommodates the characteristic twin shear. 

   more » « less
2. Revealing deformation mechanisms in Mg–Y alloy by in situ deformation of nano-pillars with mediated lateral stiffness

   https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2019.124  

   Zhang, Dalong; Jiang, Lin; Wang, Xin; Beyerlein, Irene J.; Minor, Andrew M.; Schoenung, Julie M.; Mahajan, Subhash; Lavernia, Enrique J. (May 2019, Journal of Materials Research)

   In our previous study, we observed a lack of $$\left\{ {10\bar{1}2} \right\}$$ twinning in a deformed Mg–Y alloy, which contributed to the observed yield “symmetry.” However, the effects of texture and grain size on polycrystalline deformation made it difficult to fully understand why twinning was not active. Therefore, we report herein in-depth study by in situ transmission electron microscopy, i.e., in situ TEM. The in situ deformation of nano-sized Mg–Y pillars revealed that prismatic slip was favored over twinning, namely, the critical stress required to activate prismatic slip was lower than that for twinning. This finding diametrically differs from that reported in other nano/micro-pillar deformation studies, where twinning is always the dominant deformation mechanism. By measuring the critical stresses for basal, prismatic, and pyramidal slip systems, this in situ TEM study also sheds light on the effects of the alloying element Y on reducing the intrinsic plastic anisotropy in the Mg matrix. 

   more » « less
3. Local microstructure and micromechanical stress evolution during deformation twinning in hexagonal polycrystals

   https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2020.14  

   Kumar, Mariyappan Arul; Beyerlein, Irene J. (February 2020, Journal of Materials Research)

   Deformation twinning is a prevalent plastic deformation mode in hexagonal close-packed (HCP) materials, such as magnesium, titanium, and zirconium, and their alloys. Experimental observations indicate that these twins occur heterogeneously across the polycrystalline microstructure during deformation. Morphological and crystallographic distribution of twins in a deformed microstructure, or the so-called twinning microstructure, significantly controls material deformation behavior, ductility, formability, and failure response. Understanding the development of the twinning microstructure at the grain scale can benefit design efforts to optimize microstructures of HCP materials for specific high-performance structural applications. This article reviews recent research efforts that aim to relate the polycrystalline microstructure with the development of its twinning microstructure through knowledge of local stress fields, specifically local stresses produced by twins and at twin/grain–boundary intersections on the formation and thickening of twins, twin transmission across grain boundaries, twin–twin junction formation, and secondary twinning. 

   more » « less
4. Micromechanical Fields Associated with Irregular Deformation Twins in Magnesium

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-022-07196-3  

   Leu, Brandon; Kumar, M. Arul; Rottmann, Paul F.; Hemker, Kevin J.; Beyerlein, Irene J. (March 2023, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance)

   Abstract Understanding and controlling the development of deformation twins is paramount for engineering strong and stable hexagonal close-packed (HCP) Mg alloys. Actual twins are often irregular in boundary morphology and twin crystallography, deviating from the classical picture commonly used in theory and simulation. In this work, the elastic strains and stresses around irregular twins are examined both experimentally and computationally to gain insight into how twins develop and the microstructural features that influence their development. A nanoprecession electron diffraction (N-PED) technique is used to measure the elastic strains within and around a $$\left\{ {10\overline{1}2} \right\}$$ 10 1 ¯ 2 tensile twin in AZ31B Mg alloy with nm scale resolution. A full-field elasto-viscoplastic fast Fourier transform (EVP-FFT) crystal plasticity model of the same sub-grain and irregular twin structure is employed to understand and interpret the measured elastic strain fields. The calculations predict spatially resolved elastic strain fields in good agreement with the measurement, as well as all the stress components and the dislocation density fields generated by the twin, which are not easily obtainable from the experiment. The model calculations find that neighboring twins, several twin thicknesses apart, have little influence on the twin-tip micromechanical fields. Furthermore, this work reveals that irregularity in the twin-tip shape has a negligible effect on the development of the elastic strains around and inside the twin. Importantly, the major contributor to these micromechanical fields is the alignment of the twinning shear direction with the twin boundary. 

   more » « less
5. Twinning characteristics in rolled AZ31B magnesium alloy under three stress states

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchar.2021.111050  

   Carneiro, L.; Culbertson, D.; Zhu, X.; Yu, Q.; Jiang, Y. (May 2021, Materials characterization)

   null (Ed.)

   Stress-strain responses and twinning characteristics are studied for a rolled AZ31B magnesium alloy under three different stress states: tension along the normal direction (NDT), compression along the rolled direction (RDC), and torsion about the normal direction (NDTOR) using companion specimens interrupted at incremental strain levels. Tension twinning is extensively induced in twinning-favorable NDT and RDC. All the six variants of tension twin are activated under NDT, whereas a maximum of four variants is activated under RDC. Under NDTOR, both tension twins and compression twins are activated at relatively large strains and twinning occurs in a small fraction of favored grains rather than in the majority of grains. Secondary and tertiary twins are observed in the favorably-orientated grains at high strain levels. Deformation under each stress state shows three stages of strain hardening rate: fast decrease (Stage I), sequential increase (Stage II), and progressive decrease (Stage III). The increase in the hardening rate, which is more significant under NDT and RDC as compared to NDTOR, is attributed to the hardening effect of twin boundaries and twinning texture-induced slip activities. The hardening effect of twin boundaries include the dynamic Hall-Petch hardening induced by the multiplication of twin boundaries (TBs) and twin-twin boundaries (TTBs) as well as the hardening effect associated with the energetically unfavorable TTB formation. When the applied plastic strain is larger than 0.05 under NDT and RDC, the tension twin volume fraction is higher than 50%. The twinning-induced texture leads to the activation of non-basal slips mainly in the twinned volume, i.e. prismatic slips under NDT and pyramidal slips under RDC. The low work hardening under NDTOR is due to the prevailing basal slips with reduced twinning activities under NDTOR. 

   more » « less