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

Twinning is an important deformation mode in magnesium 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 earth elements Nd and Y as well as non-rare earth elements Al, Zn, and Ca. In-situ EBSD was used at multiple load steps to quantify the level of deformation twinning and twin variants. In addition, high-resolution TEM has been used to study twin characteristics. Our results indicate that a high level of Y 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.