Three-dimensional nucleation and growth of deformation twins in magnesium

Published

August 7, 2025

Author(s)

Sangwon Lee, Michael Pilipchuk, Can Yildirim, Duncan Greeley, Qianying Shi, Tracy Berman, Adam Creuziger, Evan Rust, Carsten Detlefs, Veera Sundararaghavan, John Allison, Ashley Bucsek

Abstract

At two-thirds the weight of aluminum, magnesium alloys have the potential to significantly reduce the fuel consumption of transportation vehicles. These advancements depend on our ability to optimize the desirable versus undesirable effects of deformation twins: three-dimensional (3D) microstructural domains that form under mechanical stresses. Previously only characterized using surface or thin-film measurements, here, we present the first 3D in-situ characterization of deformation twinning inside an embedded grain over mesoscopic fields of view using dark-field X-ray microscopy supported by crystal plasticity finite element analysis. The results reveal the important role of triple junctions on twin nucleation, that twin growth behavior is irregular and can occur in several directions simultaneously, and that twin-grain and twin-twin junctions are the sites of localized dislocation accumulation, a necessary precursor to crack initiation.

Citation

Science Journal

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Citation

Lee, S. , Pilipchuk, M. , Yildirim, C. , Greeley, D. , Shi, Q. , Berman, T. , Creuziger, A. , Rust, E. , Detlefs, C. , Sundararaghavan, V. , Allison, J. and Bucsek, A. (2025), Three-dimensional nucleation and growth of deformation twins in magnesium, Science Journal, [online], https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adv3460 (Accessed September 19, 2025)