Thermomechanics of twinning from a parent to a twin with mirror image symmetry

Abstract.

In the paper we develop a modeling with multiple configurations and mirror image of parent crystal in the twinned structure, to describe the behavior of partially twinned structure. In the constitutive framework we take into account that: (1) the untwinned and twinned material have distinct natural configurations by virtue of their miscrostructure being different, (2) the material symmetry groups of the untwinned and twinned structures characterize the peculiar feature that the presence of the mirror image structure is related to the untwinned structure, but it can exist only as a counterpart of the previous one. The partially twinned structure is described by the evolution equations for the growth of twins, characterized by a pair of a deformation like tensorial variable and a scalar field with meaning of the volume fraction for the twins. The capability of the material to twin and untwin at a constant rate of strain in uniaxial compression has been analyzed and the oscillatory behavior predicted by the model reveals qualitative agreement with experimental evidences.