Formation mechanism of fivefold deformation twins in a face-centered cubic alloy

The formation mechanism considers fivefold deformation twins originating from the grain boundaries in a nanocrystalline material, resulting in that fivefold deformation twins derived from a single crystal have not been reported by molecular dynamics simulations. In this study, fivefold deformation twins are observed in a single crystal of face-centered cubic (fcc) alloy. A new formation mechanism is proposed for fivefold deformation twins in a single crystal. A partial dislocation is emitted from the incoherent twin boundaries (ITBs) with high energy, generating a stacking fault along {111} plane, and resulting in the nucleating and growing of a twin by the successive emission of partials. A node is fixed at the intersecting center of the four different slip {111} planes. With increasing stress under the indentation, ITBs come into being close to the node, leading to the emission of a partial from the node. This generates a stacking fault along a {111} plane, nucleating and growing a twin by the continuous emission of the partials. This process repeats until the formation of fivefold deformation twins.