Hardening by slip-twin and twin-twin interactions in FeMnNiCoCr

Abstract To enhance strain hardening of alloys beyond levels accessible by forest hardening slip-twin interactions and twin-twin interactions have been proposed. The high entropy alloy FeMnNiCoCr constitutes a prominent example of exceptionally pronounced strain hardening instigated by profuse slip-twin/twin-slip and twin-twin interaction at cryogenic temperatures. In the current study, we perform uniaxial straining experiments on single crystals at 77 K. The Tension crystal shows the potential ease of twin progression for slip-twin interaction (softening) in contrast to the difficulty for twin advancement in Tension, Tension and Compression cases (hardening). The corresponding self and latent hardening coefficients derived from the data reveal that slip-twin latent moduli are much smaller than twin-twin latent moduli. Unlike previous undertakings, this study demonstrates a novel approach to assess latent hardening where plastic straining is implemented in a monotonic fashion and primary and latent systems operate simultaneously. To predict the flow stress depending on crystal orientation and as a function of strain a numerical model is proposed using the obtained hardening moduli. It emerges that the magnitude of residual Burgers vectors originating from twin-related reactions can explain the experimental hardening/softening trends. These results hold considerable promise for a quantitative description of strain hardening in metals and alloys.