$$\left\{ {10\bar 12} \right\}$$ 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.