Strain rate and texture effects on microstructural characteristics of Mg-3Al-1Zn alloy during compression

Twinning activities were largely enhanced under dynamic plastic deformation (DPD). {10–11}, {10–12} and {10–11}–{10–12} twins were observed when loaded along the normal direction. {10–11}–{10–12} double-twinning behavior exhibited relatively stronger orientation dependence than {10–12} twinning. When loaded along the transverse direction, {10–12} twinning was dominant under both DPD and quasi-static conditions and the variant selection mechanism was governed by the Schmid factor which is insensitive to strain rate. However, the competition between twin nucleation and twin growth can be significantly affected by the strain rate.