Investigation of twin–twin interaction in deformed magnesium alloy

Using transmission electron microscopy, we characterised the structures of the boundary caused by the interactions between different twin variants that share the same zone axis in a deformed magnesium alloy. We found that the twin–twin boundaries can adopt the habit planes that are parallel to the (0 0 0 2) basal plane or the prismatic plane or the twinning plane of the interacting twins. To investigate the formation mechanism of various twin–twin boundaries, we also performed atomic simulations. The results indicate that the formation of a twin–twin boundary may be related to the reaction of twinning disconnections that glide on the basal-prismatic planes of the interacting twins.