Dislocation Transformations at the Common 30°⟨0001⟩ Grain Boundaries During Plastic Deformation in Magnesium

After the thermal-mechanical processing of Mg alloys, extensive 30°⟨0001⟩ grain boundaries (GBs) are present in the recrystallized structure, which strongly affects the mechanical properties via interactions with lattice dislocations. In this work, we systematically investigate how the 30°⟨0001⟩ GBs influence the slip transmission during plastic deformation. We reveal that basal dislocations can be transmuted into its neighboring grain and continue gliding on the basal plane. The prismatic dislocation can transmit the GB remaining on the same Burgers vector. However, a mobile pyramidal $c+a$ dislocation can be absorbed at GBs, initiating the formation of new grain. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding on GB-dislocation interaction in hexagonal close-packed (HCP) metals.