Unusual strain hardening response and ductility of NiCoCr equiatomic alloy were investigated through microstructural analysis of [111], [110] and [123] single crystals deformed under tension. Nano-twinning prevailed at, as early as, 4% strain along the [110] orientation, providing a steady work hardening, and thereby a significant ductility. While single slip dominated in the [123] orientation at the early stages of deformation, multiple slip and nanotwinning was prominent in the [111] orientation. Significant dislocation storage capability and resistance to necking due to nanotwinning provided unprecedented ductility to NiCoCr medium entropy alloys, making it superior than quinary variants, and conventional low and medium stacking fault energy steels. IMPACT STATEMENT A comparison of the current results on the ternary medium entropy alloy single crystals and those previously reported on the quinary and quaternary fcc equiatomic alloys demonstrates that a higher configurational entropy does not necessarily warrant improved mechanical properties.
We report extensive nano-twin formation in 316 stainless steel (SS) and the evolution of a hierarchical microstructure through the formation of multi-scale twin bundles after uniaxial tension with uniform elongation levels of 20%, 30%, and 40%. Multiscale characterization techniques were employed to reveal the nature of these twins. The twin density increases with the increasing strain level, however, the twin width remains the same, notably reducing the mean free path of dislocations. Concurrently, significant work hardening is observed during subsequent deformation. The deformation-induced nano-twins are thermally stable up to ~800 ºC, shown by both interrupted and in-situ transmission electron microscopy experiments, above which the recrystallization takes place in the vicinity of the twins. Such favorable thermal stability of the twins in nano-twin strengthened 316 SS offers a promising approach for microstructurally engineering these materials for potential applications at elevated temperatures. The related strengthening mechanisms are discussed in the light of the mean free path of dislocations and the dislocation interactions with twin boundaries.
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