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NANOCRYSTALLINE MATERIALS

Nanotwinning-assisted recrystallization

Nature Materials volume 21, pages 738–739 (2022)Cite this article

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Dynamic recrystallization helps to refine grain structures in metals and tune their properties. Confining recrystallization within prior nanoscale twinning provides a path for reaching exceptional grain refinement.

The quest for refining grain structures in metals dates back to the origins of metallurgy, when forging operations served not only to produce objects with specific shapes but also as a strengthening mechanism. While most of the metals and alloys inherited from casting exhibit coarse grain structures, their mechanical properties substantially improve when reducing the average crystal (or grain) size. Submicrometre grain structures are of particular interest, as they can lead to exceptional properties and/or new physical behaviours such as high strength combined with high ductility, low-temperature superplasticity, creep or corrosion resistance, hydrogen storage, superconductivity, biocompatibility and so on1,2,3. A number of grain-refining methods have therefore been devised, typically taking advantage of thermal and mechanical treatments. Recrystallization phenomena induced by such treatments may lead to average crystal sizes as low as hundreds of nanometres. Now, writing in Nature Materials, Ahmed Tiamiyu and colleagues4 report a recrystallization mechanism leading to crystal sizes of tens of nanometres. They show that controlled extreme conditions of strain and strain rate induce nanoscale twinning, followed by recrystallization within the twins. The scenario contrasts with the traditional partitioning of grains by (nano)twins.

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Fig. 1: Nanotwinning-assisted DRX.

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  1. Laboratory of Thermomechanical Metallurgy (LMTM), PX Group Chair, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchatel, Switzerland

    Roland E. Logé

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  1. Roland E. Logé
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Correspondence to Roland E. Logé.

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Logé, R.E. Nanotwinning-assisted recrystallization. Nat. Mater. 21, 738–739 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01284-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01284-4

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