Toughening magnesium with gradient twin meshes

Abstract In the present study, we combine comprehensive site-specific microstructural and mechanical characterization studies to evaluate the toughening effect induced by applying a surface SPEX milling (SSM) approach to commercially-pure Mg. Our results show that the high frequency, multi-directional deformation strain induced by SSM generated gradients in the grain size and orientation with depth from the surface. More importantly, it also resulted in a gradient in the density of twin meshes, which are defined as two or more intersecting arrays of twins, along the sample thickness direction. Tensile tests at room temperature indicate that after SSM, the samples have higher ultimate tensile strengths and two-fold increases in ductility as compared to those of the untreated samples. The effect of the initial texture and SSM parameters on the microstructural evolution and texture randomization were analyzed by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). Furthermore, in order to correlate the variation in microstructure with the site-specific mechanical response, TEM and in-situ micropillar compression testing in SEM were performed at various distances from the SSM-treated surface. The results show that twin meshes may be responsible for the activation of more slip systems and higher strain hardening, which result in higher uniform plastic strain.