An Experimental Study on Twinning Behavior in Mg Alloys with Different Solute Elements

TwinningTwinning is an important deformation mode in magnesium alloysMagnesium alloys (Mg alloys); however, the influence of different solute elements remains a topic of active research. In this study, the influence of solute elements on twinning activity during monotonic and cyclic loading has been investigated in Mg alloys containing the rare earthRare-earth elements Nd and Y as well as non-rare earth elements Al, Zn, and Ca. In-situ EBSDElectron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) was used at multiple load steps to quantify the level of deformation twinningDeformation twinning and twin variants. In addition, high-resolution TEMTransmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) has been used to study twin characteristics. Our results indicate that a high level of YY addition significantly retards twin activity and, in addition to the more common \(\left\{ {10\overline{1}2} \right\}\) extension twins, also promotes a second type of tension twins \(\left\{ {11\overline{2}1} \right\}\) . Similarly, the addition of Nd leads to a reduction in twin activity. These results will be compared with twin activity in non-rare earth alloys.