On the Micromechanisms of Shock-Induced Martensitic Transformation in Tantalum

Shock-induced twinning and martensitic transformation in tantalum, which exhibits no solid-state phase transformation under hydrostatic pressures up to 100 GPa, have been further investigated. Since the volume fraction and size of twin and phase domains are small in scale, they are considered foming by heterogeneous nucleation that is catalyzed by high density lattice dislocations. A dynamic dislocation mechanism is accordingly proposed based upon the observation of dense dislocation clustering within shock-recovered tantalum. The dense dislocation clustering can cause a significant increase of strain energy in local regions of {beta} (bcc) matrix, which renders mechanical instability and initiates the nucleation of twin and phase domains through the spontaneous reactions of dislocation dissociation within the dislocation clusters. That is, twin domains can be nucleated within the clusters through the homogeneous dissociation of 1/2<111> dislocations into 1/6<111> partial dislocations, and {omega} phase domains can be nucleated within the closters through the inhomogeneous dissociation of 1/2<111> dislocations into 1/12<111>, 1/3<111> and 1/12<111> partial dislocations