The theory of the crystallography of deformation twinning

Abstract The crystallographic characteristics of deformation twinning are derived by considering the atomic movements which occur at the moving interface as a twin propagates. This is facilitated by making use of the notation of the tensor calculus, and general expressions, valid for all crystal structures, are obtained giving the magnitude of the twinning shear and relating the twinning elements for both type I and type II twinning. The atomic shuffles, which in general must accompany the twinning shear in both single and multiple lattice structures, are examined in detail and expressions are derived for their magnitudes and directions for the cases of the four classical orientation relationships associated with deformation twinning. The use of these expressions in predicting operative twinning modes is described and the relations between this theory and other recent theories of the crystallography of deformation twinning are discussed.