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- Title
Atomic-scale observation of nucleation- and growth-controlled deformation twinning in body-centered cubic nanocrystals.
- Authors
Zhong, Li; Zhang, Yin; Wang, Xiang; Zhu, Ting; Mao, Scott X.
- Abstract
Twinning is an essential mode of plastic deformation for achieving superior strength and ductility in metallic nanostructures. It has been generally believed that twinning-induced plasticity in body-centered cubic (BCC) metals is controlled by twin nucleation, but facilitated by rapid twin growth once the nucleation energy barrier is overcome. By performing in situ atomic-scale transmission electron microscopy straining experiments and atomistic simulations, we find that deformation twinning in BCC Ta nanocrystals larger than 15 nm in diameter proceeds by reluctant twin growth, resulting from slow advancement of twinning partials along the boundaries of finite-sized twin structures. In contrast, reluctant twin growth can be obviated by reducing the nanocrystal diameter to below 15 nm. As a result, the nucleated twin structure penetrates quickly through the cross section of nanocrystals, enabling fast twin growth via facile migration of twin boundaries leading to large uniform plastic deformation. The present work reveals a size-dependent transition in the nucleation- and growth-controlled twinning mechanism in BCC metals, and provides insights for exploiting twinning-induced plasticity and breaking strength-ductility limits in nanostructured BCC metals. Deformation twinning in body-centered cubic (BCC) metals is generally believed to be controlled by twin nucleation, but facilitated by rapid twin growth once the nucleation energy barrier is overcome. Here, the authors demonstrate both nucleation- and growth-controlled twinning modes in BCC Ta nanocrystals depending on the crystal size.
- Subjects
BODY centered cubic structure; BODY-centered cubic metals; TWIN boundaries; TRANSMISSION electron microscopy; ACTIVATION energy; NANOCRYSTALS; METAL-insulator transitions
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2024, Vol 15, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-024-44837-8