Twinning in nanocrystalline fcc metals

Twinning has been observed in experimental deformation studies of nanocrystalline (nc) materials even for high stacking fault fcc metals. By using molecular dynamics and a knowledge of the general planar fault energy curves of the corresponding metal, we show how twinning can occur by means of partial dislocations nucleating at nc grain boundaries and how this process is influenced by the presence of grown-in twins.