Effect of indentation size on the nucleation and propagation of tensile twinning in pure magnesium

Tensile twinning is a key deformation mode in magnesium and its alloys, as well as in other hcp metals. However, the fundamentals of this mechanism are still not fully understood. In this research, instrumented nanoindentation and crystal plasticity finite element simulations are utilized to investigate twin formation and propagation in pure Mg. With that purpose, several nanoindentations at different indentation depths were performed in pure Mg single crystals with a wide range of crystallographic orientations. A careful analysis of the deformation profile, by atomic force microscopy, and of the microtexture, by electron backscatter diffraction, in areas around and underneath the indents, reveals that twinning is subjected to strong size effects, i.e., that the relative activity of twinning increases dramatically with the indentation depth. Furthermore, the twin volume fraction is found to be related to the pile-up or sink-in areas close to the indentations. A decrease in hardness in orientations where the twinning activity is high was confirmed both experimentally and by crystal plasticity finite element simulations. Finally, our results support the thesis that twin activation is an energetic process that demands a concentration of high stresses in a certain activation volume.