EBSD analysis of {10–12} twinning activity in Mg–3Al–1Zn alloy during compression

The {10–12} twinning activity of Mg–3Al–1Zn magnesium alloy during uniaxial compression at room temperature has been investigated by electron backscatter diffraction. The results indicated that the twinning activity was closely related with two angles: one was the angle between the c-axis and the compression direction and the other was the angle between the a-axis and the titling direction in the basal plane for a given relation between the c-axis and the compression direction. These two parameters can be used to explain which twinning variant will operate under the given strain path. For the grains containing a single {10–12} twinning variant, the {10–12} twinning variant occurred in a wide range of Schmid factor values (0 < Schmid factor < 0.5) and the Schmid factor rank of 1 or 2 was the most commonly observed. By contrast, for the grains containing two {10–12} twinning variants, the {10–12} twinning activity exhibited a stronger orientation dependence and the combinations of Schmid factor ranks 1–3 and 1–2 were the most commonly observed.