Grain boundary slip – twin transmission in titanium

Abstract

Using a combination of mechanical testing, scanning electron microscopy, and a unified crystal plasticity framework for discrete intragranular shear localization, we investigate intense, localized slip bands on prismatic planes and {101¯2}〈1¯011〉 tensile twins, and their transmission across the grain boundaries (GBs) in commercially pure titanium. The analyses show that the orientation and curvature of the GB influence the local stress fields at the GBs, and consequently, the slip/twin transmission across the boundary. In addition to host grain properties, neighboring grain properties, such as active slip systems and instances of heterogeneity like slip bands and twins, heavily affect the deformation mechanisms in each grain. Finally, the applicability of geometric factors to predict the transmission in the experimentally observed co-located pairs is discussed. The local stress field calculated by the discrete slip and twin band model is shown to be capable of determining whether a transmission has occurred in an observed co-located pair, and also the direction of the transmission.