In situ nanoindentation study on plasticity and work hardening in aluminium with incoherent twin boundaries

Nanotwinned metals have been the focus of intense research recently, as twin boundaries may greatly enhance mechanical strength, while maintaining good ductility, electrical conductivity and thermal stability. Most prior studies have focused on low stacking-fault energy nanotwinned metals with coherent twin boundaries. In contrast, the plasticity of twinned high stacking-fault energy metals, such as aluminium with incoherent twin boundaries, has not been investigated. Here we report high work hardening capacity and plasticity in highly twinned aluminium containing abundant Σ3{112} incoherent twin boundaries based on in situ nanoindentation studies in a transmission electron microscope and corresponding molecular dynamics simulations. The simulations also reveal drastic differences in deformation mechanisms between nanotwinned copper and twinned aluminium ascribed to stacking-fault energy controlled dislocation-incoherent twin boundary interactions. This study provides new insight into incoherent twin boundary-dominated plasticity in high stacking-fault energy twinned metals. Nanotwinned metals containing a high density of coherent twin boundaries have the potential to exhibit high strength and ductility. Here, the authors study the effect that incoherent twin boundaries have on mechanical properties of nanotwinned aluminium with high stacking-fault energy, observing substantial work hardening and plasticity.