In-situ X-ray diffraction studies of slip and twinning in the presence of precipitates in AZ91 alloy

The effect of basal plate precipitates on the hardening of basal slip and (10 (1) over bar2) twinning modes was investigated for a non-aged and aged AZ91 alloy in the twin dominated strain paths. Exploiting in-situ synchrotron and laboratory based X-ray diffraction methodologies, we quantified the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) for basal slip and twinning modes. The twin volume fraction changes were quantified from the intensity changes with applied load. We observed that the twin volume fraction changes with plastic strain is sensitive to the initial texture, while the relative hardening of different deformation modes are considered as a secondary effect. We also found that the twin interior stresses were significantly smaller and consistent with the high twin back stresses in the presence of precipitates. We propose, based on a simple analytical equation, that the leading edge of the propagating twin have a Burgers vector equivalent to 100 twinning dislocations and when the propagating twin is blocked by a precipitate, relatively high resolved stress is required for bowing the twin dislocation and hence the propagation of the twin occurs by the dissociation of the leading edge of the twinning dislocation. (C) 2016 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.