$\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$ twinning behavior in magnesium single crystal

Abstract

In order to investigate $\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$ tensile twinning behavior, the magnesium single crystal was deformed by compressing along the $\left[ {2\bar 1 \bar 10} \right]$ direction at room temperature, as $\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$ tensile twinning easily takes place when the compression direction is perpendicular to the c-axis. Numerous $\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$ primary tensile twins were activated during deformation, and the Schmid factor (SF) criterion was applied to the six $\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$ twin variants. The analysis shows that the majority of the $\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$ primary twins belong to high SF variants, and high SF twin boundaries provided nucleation sites for low SF variants. The $\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$ secondary tensile twins were formed inside the high SF of wide $\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$ primary twin bands, and the basal plane of the $\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$ secondary twin was tilted about 60° with respect to the original parent matrix. In the case of the $\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$ secondary tensile twin, relatively low SF variants were activated while counterparts with higher SF variants were absent.