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Size effect on deformation twinning at the nanoscale in hcp metals

Deformation twinning is generally considered to be the primary mechanism for hexagonal close-packed (hcp) metals due to their limited slip systems. Recent microcompression experiments on hcp metals point to intriguing strong size effects on twinning mechanisms, indicating that pyramidal slips dominate compression.In this work we analyze size effects on twinning due to lattice-rotation strain in hcp single crystals. A criterion for deformation twinning is derived at the nanoscale and tested by molecular dynamics simulations of magnesium and titanium single crystals. The results show <c+a> pyramidal slip dominates the compression deformation at the nanoscale, consistent with experimental observations as well as our analysis. Our finding clarifies the nature of size effects in deformation twinning, while also providing an explanation for the so-called strength differential (SD) effect.