TEM study on relationship between stacking faults and non-basal dislocations in Mg

Recent interest in the study of stacking faults and non-basal slip in Mg alloys is partly based on the argument that these phenomena positively influence mechanical behaviour. Inspection of the published literature, however, reveals that there is a lack of fundamental information on the mechanisms that govern the formation of stacking faults, especially I1-type stacking faults (I1 faults). Moreover, controversial and sometimes contradictory mechanisms have been proposed concerning the interactions between stacking faults and dislocations. Therefore, we describe a fundamental transmission electron microscope investigation on Mg 2.5 at. % Y (Mg–2.5Y) processed via hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and extrusion at 623 K. In the as-HIPed Mg–2.5Y, many 〈c〉 and 〈a〉 dislocations, together with some 〈c + a〉 dislocations were documented, but no stacking faults were observed. In contrast, in the as-extruded Mg–2.5Y, a relatively high density of stacking faults and some non-basal dislocations were documented. Specifically, there were three different cases for the configurations of observed stacking faults. Case (I): pure I2 faults; Case (II): mixture of I1 faults and non-basal dislocations having 〈c〉 component, together with basal 〈a〉 dislocations; Case (III): mixture of predominant I2 faults and rare I1 faults, together with jog-like dislocation configuration. By comparing the differences in extended defect configurations, we propose three distinct stacking fault formation mechanisms for each case in the context of slip activity and point defect generation during extrusion. Furthermore, we discuss the role of stacking faults on deformation mechanisms in the context of dynamic interactions between stacking faults and non-basal slip.