Tensile twin evolution of Mg–3Al–1Zn magnesium alloy during high-strain rate deformation

In order to investigate the evolution of [Formula: see text] tensile twin in Mg–3Al–1Zn (AZ31) magnesium alloy under high-strain rate impaction, the cylindrical specimens were compressed along the rolling direction under the strain rate of 1600 s −1 by use of split Hopkinson pressure bars equipped with stop rings with different thicknesses. The microstructure was observed by electron back-scatter diffraction. The results show that [Formula: see text] tensile twinning dominates the early plastic deformation and the area fraction of [Formula: see text] tensile twins is increased with the increase of deformation strain. Furthermore, when the deformation strain is beyond ∼10%, plastic deformation is mainly dominated by dislocation slips. In addition, most of [Formula: see text] tensile twins activated in a single grain belong to a variant or a variant pair, which has the highest Schmid factor among all the variants.