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Metastable β-type Ti alloys that undergo stress-induced martensitic transformation and/or deformation twinning mechanisms have the potential to simultaneously enhance strength and ductility through the transformation-induced plasticity effect (TRIP) and twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) effect. These TRIP/TWIP Ti alloys represent a new generation of strain hardenable Ti alloys, holding great promise for structural applications. Nonetheless, the relatively low yield strength is the main factor limiting the practical applications of TRIP/TWIP Ti alloys. The intricate interplay among chemical compositions, deformation mechanisms, and mechanical properties in TRIP/TWIP Ti alloys poses a challenge for the development of new TRIP/TWIP Ti alloys. This review delves into the understanding of deformation mechanisms and strain hardening behavior of TRIP/TWIP Ti alloys and summarizes the role of β phase stability, α″ martensite, α′ martensite, and ω phase on the TRIP/TWIP effects. This is followed by the introduction of compositional design strategies that empower the precise design of new TRIP/TWIP Ti alloys through multi-element alloying. Then, the recent development of TRIP/TWIP Ti alloys and the strengthening strategies to enhance their yield strength while preserving high-strain hardening capability are summarized. Finally, future prospects and suggestions for the continued design and development of high-performance TRIP/TWIP Ti alloys are highlighted.

The anisotropic microstructure of bone tissue is crucial for appropriate mechanical and biological functions of bone. We recently revealed that the construction of oriented bone matrix is established by osteoblast alignment; there is a quite unique correlation between cell alignment and cell-produced bone matrix orientation governed by the molecular interactions between material surface and cells. Titanium and its alloys are one of the most attractive materials for biomedical applications. We previously succeeded in controlling cellular arrangement using the dislocations of a crystallographic slip system in titanium single crystals with hexagonal close-packing (hcp) crystal lattice. Here, we induced a specific surface topography by deformation twinning and dislocation motion to control cell orientation. Dislocation and deformation twinning were introduced into α-titanium polycrystals in compression, inducing a characteristic surface structure involving nanometer-scale highly concentrated twinning traces. The plastic deformation-induced surface topography strongly influenced osteoblast orientation, causing them to align preferentially along the slip and twinning traces. This surface morphology, exhibiting a characteristic grating structure, controlled the localization of focal adhesions and subsequent elongation of stress fibers in osteoblasts. These results indicate that cellular responses against dislocation and deformation twinning are useful for controlling osteoblast alignment and the resulting bone matrix anisotropy.

Deformation microstructure of orthorhombic-α\" martensite in a Ti-7.5Mo (wt.%) alloy was investigated by tracking a local area of microstructure using scanning electron microscopy, electron back-scattered diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The as-quenched α\" plates contain {111} α\" -type I transformation twins generated to accommodate transformation strain from bcc-β to orthorhombic-α\" martensite. Tensile deformation up to strain level of 5% induces {112} α\" -type I deformation twins. The activation of {112} α\" -type I deformation twinning mode is reported for the first time in α\" martensite in β-Ti alloys. {112} α\" -type I twinning mode was analyzed by the crystallographic twinning theory by Bilby and Crocker and the most possible mechanism of atomic displacements (shears and shuffles) controlling the newly reported {112} α\" -type I twinning were proposed.

The effect of high-temperature deformation twinning on the work hardening behaviors of Fe-38Mn alloy during hot shear-compression deformation was investigated. The discovery of micro-shear bands and deformation twinning is significant for continuous work hardening, and this represents an important step toward gaining a complete understanding of the effect of deformation twinning on work hardening behaviors. Deformation twinning is widely acknowledged to accommodate plastic strain under cold deformation, even under severe plastic deformation. At present, the equivalent stress vs. strain curves for hot shear-compression deformation of Fe-38Mn alloy exhibit the characteristics of continuous work hardening. In addition, continuous work hardening is classified into five stages when considering high-temperature deformation twinning.

The response of a polycrystalline material to a mechanical load depends not only on the response of each individual grain, but also on the interaction with its neighbors. These interactions lead to local, intragranular stress concentrations that often dictate the initiation of plastic deformation and consequently the macroscopic stress–strain behavior. However, very few experimental studies have quantified intragranular stresses across bulk, three-dimensional volumes. In this work, a synchrotron X-ray diffraction technique called point-focused high-energy diffraction microscopy (pf-HEDM) is used to characterize intragranular deformation across a bulk, plastically deformed, polycrystalline titanium specimen. The results reveal the heterogenous stress distributions within individual grains and across grain boundaries, a stress concentration between a low and high Schmid factor grain pair, and a stress gradient near an extension twinning boundary. This work demonstrates the potential for the future use of pf-HEDM for understanding the local deformation associated with networks of grains and informing mesoscale models. Graphical abstract

The conventional rolling of magnesium alloy with a single pass and large reduction will cause severe edge cracking. The sheet without cracks can be achieved by limited width rolling. The microstructure evolution of the sheet with cracks after conventional rolling and the sheet without cracks after limited width rolling is explored, and an effective mechanism for solving edge cracks is proposed. Conventional rolling can fully develop twin evolution due to high deformation, and three stages of twinning evolution can be observed and the secondary twins easily become the nucleation points of micro cracks, resulting in a large number of cracks propagating along the twin lamellae. Cracks terminate at dislocation accumulation because the accumulation of a large number of dislocations can hinder propagation. Dislocation shearing of twins to eliminate the high localization caused by twins and induce the tensile twins to weaken the basal surface texture provides an effective plastic deformation mechanism of crack inhibition, which is useful for expanding the engineering application of magnesium alloy rolled sheets.

A single FCC phase 40Fe–25Ni–15Cr–10Co–10V high-entropy alloy was designed, fabricated, and evaluated for potential cryogenic applications. The alloy forms a single FCC phase and exhibits higher yield strength, tensile strength, and elongation at cryogenic temperature (77 K) than at room temperature (298 K). The superior tensile properties at cryogenic temperature are discussed based on the formation of deformation twins during the tensile test at cryogenic temperature. In addition, a constitutive model reflecting the cryogenic deformation mechanism (i.e., twinning-induced plasticity) was implemented into the finite element method to analyze this behavior. Experimental results and the finite element analysis suggest that the increase in plastic deformation capacity at cryogenic temperature contributes to the formation of deformation twins.

Electrical-assisted (EA) forming technology is a promising technology to improve the formability of hard-deformable materials, such as Mg alloys. Herein, EA micro tensile tests and various microstructure characterizations were conducted to study the electroplastic effect (EPE) and size effect on the mechanical responses, deformation mechanisms, and fracture characteristics of AZ31 Mg foils. With the assistance of electric currents, the ductility of the foils was significantly improved, the size effects caused by grain size and sample thickness were weakened, and the sigmoidal shape of the flow stress curves during the early deformation stage became less obvious. The EBSD characterization results showed that the shape change of the flow stress curves was due to the EPE suppressing the activation of extension twinning at the early deformation stage, especially for the coarse grain samples. The suppression of extension twinning resulted in a quick increase in flow stress due to the dislocation-dominant work hardening, and the increased flow stress eventually promoted extensive deformation twins at large deformation. Thus, as the sample strained to 10% tensile deformation, the EA-tested samples showed a larger volume fraction of deformation twins than the non-EA samples. The reference orientation deviation analysis verified that the deformation twins in the EA samples were formed in the large deformation stage. Combined with the fractography, the EPE also improved the ductility by suppressing the expansion of cleavage surfaces.

In this investigation, extruded Mg-Ag alloy rods were subjected to free-end torsion at room temperature. The results reveal that the activation of extension twinning in the central area on the transverse surface of the rod is not induced by the shear stress or the normal stress via free-end torsion but by the compressive stress via the Swift effect. In contrast, the activation of extension twinning in the edge area is due to the normal stress rather than the shear stress. Due to the shear stress intrinsic linear increase, free-end torsion can cause a gradual increase in dislocation density from the center to the edge on the transverse surface, which gradually increases the microhardness. Furthermore, free-end torsion can slightly increase the TYS owing to the softening effect of detwinning and nonbasal slip dominated tensile deformation, but free-end torsion can also significantly increase the CYS due to dislocation strengthening and twinning boundary strengthening. Additionally, the effects of free-end torsion on ultimate strength and elongation are negligible. As a result, free-end torsion can significantly improve the tension-compression yield asymmetry of extruded Mg-Ag alloy rods without sacrificing ultimate strength and plasticity.