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In situ atomic-scale observation of twinning-dominated deformation in nanoscale body-centred cubic tungsten
Journal article   Peer reviewed

In situ atomic-scale observation of twinning-dominated deformation in nanoscale body-centred cubic tungsten

Jiangwei Wang, Zhi Zeng, Christopher R. Weinberger, Ze Zhang, Ting Zhu and Scott X. Mao
Nature materials, v 14(6), pp 594-600
01 Jun 2015
PMID: 25751073

Abstract

Chemistry Chemistry, Physical Materials Science Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Physical Sciences Physics Physics, Applied Physics, Condensed Matter Science & Technology Technology
Twinning is a fundamental deformation mode that competes against dislocation slip in crystalline solids. In metallic nanostructures, plastic deformation requires higher stresses than those needed in their bulk counterparts, resulting in the 'smaller is stronger' phenomenon. Such high stresses are thought to favour twinning over dislocation slip. Deformation twinning has been well documented in face-centred cubic (FCC) nanoscale crystals. However, it remains unexplored in body-centred cubic (BCC) nanoscale crystals. Here, by using in situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and atomistic simulations, we show that twinning is the dominant deformation mechanism in nanoscale crystals of BCC tungsten. Such deformation twinning is pseudoelastic, manifested through reversible detwinning during unloading. We find that the competition between twinning and dislocation slip can be mediated by loading orientation, which is attributed to the competing nucleation mechanism of defects in nanoscale BCC crystals. Our work provides direct observations of deformation twinning as well as new insights into the deformation mechanism in BCC nanostructures.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Chemistry, Physical
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Physics, Applied
Physics, Condensed Matter
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