Search for: All records

Abstract The abrupt occurrence of twinning when Mg is deformed leads to a highly anisotropic response, making it too unreliable for structural use and too unpredictable for observation. Here, we describe an in-situ transmission electron microscopy experiment on Mg crystals with strategically designed geometries for visualization of a long-proposed but unverified twinning mechanism. Combining with atomistic simulations and topological analysis, we conclude that twin nucleation occurs through a pure-shuffle mechanism that requires prismatic-basal transformations. Also, we verified a crystal geometry dependent twin growth mechanism, that is the early-stage growth associated with instability of plasticity flow, which can be dominated either by slower movement of prismatic-basal boundary steps, or by faster glide-shuffle along the twinning plane. The fundamental understanding of twinning provides a pathway to understand deformation from a scientific standpoint and the microstructure design principles to engineer metals with enhanced behavior from a technological standpoint. 

The {-1012} tensile twins terminating inside the grains of a deformed Mg-Y alloy were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The crystallographic features of terminating twins and associated slip structures were quantified and correlated. The local stresses developed at a terminating {-1012} twin were computed using crystal plasticity simulations in order to interpret the observed slip patterns. Results indicate that both basal and matrix glide were involved in accommodating the plastic stresses developed in the vicinity of terminating twins. Along the twin boundary, the defect contrast consistent with that of lattice dislocations and twinning partials was observed. Based on these observations, a dislocation reaction is proposed that establishes an interrelationship between the observed matrix glide and {-1012} twinning in Mg-Y alloys.