Explore the vast range of titles available.

Maraging steels are used to produce tools by Additive Manufacturing (AM) methods such as Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) and Selective Laser Melting (SLM). Although it is well established that dense parts can be produced by AM, the influence of the AM process on the microstructure—in particular the content of retained and reversed austenite as well as the nanostructure, especially the precipitate density and chemistry, are not yet explored. Here, we study these features using microhardness measurements, Optical Microscopy, Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and Atom Probe Tomography (APT) in the as-produced state and during ageing heat treatment. We find that due to microsegregation, retained austenite exists in the as-LMD- and as-SLM-produced states but not in the conventionally-produced material. The hardness in the as-LMD-produced state is higher than in the conventionally and SLM-produced materials, however, not in the uppermost layers. By APT, it is confirmed that this is due to early stages of precipitation induced by the cyclic re-heating upon further deposition—i.e., the intrinsic heat treatment associated with LMD. In the peak-aged state, which is reached after a similar time in all materials, the hardness of SLM- and LMD-produced material is slightly lower than in conventionally-produced material due to the presence of retained austenite and reversed austenite formed during ageing.

This paper presents a software environment for processing, segmenting, quantifying, representing and manipulating digital microstructure data. The paper discusses the approach to building a generalized representation strategy for digital microstructures and the barriers encountered when trying to integrate a set of existing software tools to create an expandable codebase.

The aim of this work is to present a quantitative analysis of features involved in recovery during annealing of deformed Tantalum. In pure metals where crystalline defects usually have high mobility, dislocation annihilation and rearrangement occur to a great extent prior to recrystallization. Therefore a complete understanding of recrystallization cannot be accomplished without an advanced knowledge of the recovery phenomenon. Depending on whether dislocations induce a measurable curvature in the crystal lattice or not, they are called Geometrically Necessary Dislocations (GNDs) or Statistically Stored Dislocations (SSDs) respectively. In the present work only GNDs are considered. For this purpose electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is an advantageous technique to obtain statistically representative results when compared to Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). However, a quantitative analysis of GNDs from EBSD data is not straightforward. Since local misorientations are induced by the curvature of the crystal lattice caused by GNDs, GNDs analysis can be done using local misorientations. However the values obtained from this analysis are step size dependent and influenced by the measurement noise. Reasoning on the basis that when the step size tends to zero, local misorientation should also tend to zero, measurement noise can be estimated [1]. The measurement noise appears to notably be very much dependent on the amplitude of local misorientations, which must be considered in the perspective of GND density calculation.

The coupling of electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI) with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) provides an efficient and fast approach to perform ECCI of crystal defects, such as dislocations, cells, and stacking faults, under controlled diffraction conditions with enhanced contrast. From a technical point of view, the ECCI technique complements two of the main electron microscopy techniques, namely, EBSD and conventional diffraction-based transmission electron microscopy. In this review, we provide several application examples of the EBSD-based ECCI approach on microstructure characterization, namely, characterization of single dislocations, measurement of dislocation densities, and characterization of dislocation substructures in deformed bulk materials. We make use of a two-beam Bloch wave approach to interpret the channeling contrast associated with crystal defects. The approach captures the main features observed in the experimental contrast associated with stacking faults and dislocations.

High-pressure torsion (HPT) processing was applied to cast pure magnesium, and the effects of the deformation on the microstructure, hardness, tensile properties and corrosion resistance were evaluated. The microstructures of the processed samples were examined by electron backscatter diffraction, and the mechanical properties were determined by Vickers hardness and tensile testing. The corrosion resistance was studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in a 3.5% NaCl solution. The results show that HPT processing effectively refines the grain size of Mg from millimeters in the cast structure to a few micrometers after processing and also creates a basal texture on the surface. It was found that one or five turns of HPT produced no significant difference in the grain size of the processed Mg and the hardness was a maximum after one turn due to recovery in some grains. Measurements showed that the yield strength of the cast Mg increased by about seven times whereas the corrosion resistance was not significantly affected by the HPT processing.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the five-parameter grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) of polycrystalline silicon and compare it to distributions measured in metals and ceramics. The GBCD was determined from the stereological analysis of electron backscatter diffraction maps. The distribution of grain boundary disorientations is non-random and has peaks at 36°, 39°, 45°, 51°, and 60°. The axis-angle distribution reveals that most of the grain boundaries have misorientations around the [111], [110], and [100] axes. The most common grain boundary type (30 % number fraction) has a 60° misorientation around [111] and of these boundaries, the majority are twist boundaries. For other common boundaries, symmetric tilt configurations are preferred. The grain boundary character distribution of Si is distinct from those previously observed for metals and ceramics. The measured grain boundary populations are inversely correlated to calculated grain boundary energies available in the literature.

This study combines nanoindentation, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and crystal plasticity finite element analysis to examine the anisotropy in the indentation behaviour of individual grains within an α-Ti polycrystal. Nanoindentation is utilized to mechanically probe small volumes of material within grains for which orientations are known from prior EBSD mapping. Both indentation modulus and hardness decrease significantly as the indentation axis is inclined further from the c-axis; the plastic response showing the more marked anisotropy. Recently developed high angular resolution EBSD has been utilized to examine selected indents, providing maps of elastic strain variations and lattice rotations. From such maps lower bound solutions for the density of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) have been established. Crystal plasticity modelling showed promise in capturing correctly the orientation dependence of load-displacement response and in lattice rotations local to the indenter, particularly for indentation into a basal plane which generated threefold rotational symmetry about an axis parallel with the indentation direction which was also observed in experiments.

Automated electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis is frequently used to investigate the change in crystallographic orientation that occurs when polycrystalline materials deform. Through crystallographic slip, the crystal lattice within a grain rotates. However, the crystal lattice rotation in each grain is constrained by the lattices of the neighboring grains while rotating. These competing factors lead to the development of orientation gradients and substructure in deformed polycrystals. In situ uniaxial tensile deformation was carried out in the scanning electron microscope while employing simultaneous automated EBSD analysis to characterize grain rotation, both in terms of the overall rotation of the lattice and the development of orientation gradients within the grain. The impact of these factors can be seen at the grain boundaries in the deformed structure where the local orientations diverge from the orientation at the grain interior. Automated in situ EBSD analysis allows the quantitative nature of specific metrics based on local variations in orientation to illuminate the physical mechanisms underlying the stress strain response during a mechanical test.

Correlative electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPFM) analysis has been carried out to characterise microstructure development and associated corrosion behaviour of as-received and 750 °C heat-treated grade 2205 duplex stainless steel. High-resolution EBSD analysis revealed the presence of σ- and χ-phase, secondary austenite, Cr 2 N, and CrN after ageing treatment. SKPFM Volta potential measurements confirmed the formation of discrete reactive sites, indicating local corrosion propensity in the microstructure. Cr 2 N, σ-phase, and inter-granular χ-phase had the largest net cathodic activity, followed by CrN and intra-granular χ-phase showing medium electrochemical activity, with ferrite and austenite (including secondary austenite) showing net anodic activity. Corrosion screening confirmed selective corrosion of ferrite in the as-received and 750 °C-aged conditions with the corrosion propensity of secondary phases staying in-line with SKPFM observations. Stress corrosion micro-cracks were also observed and are discussed in light of microstructure corrosion propensity.

The effect of strain rate on dynamic recrystallization (DRX) behavior and mechanism of alloy 617B was investigated by isothermal compression test in a temperature range of 1393 K to 1483 K (1120 °C to 1210 °C) with a wide strain rate scope of 0.01 to 20 s −1 . The microstructure evolution was investigated comprehensively by optical microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to provide detailed insight into the effect of strain rate on DRX mechanism. The study shows that DRX is accelerated at both low strain rate and high strain rate conditions with an apparent sluggish kinetics at the intermediate strain rate of 1 s −1 . In the low strain rate condition ( i.e. , <1 s −1 ), DRX is mainly controlled by the growth of DRX nuclei due to the sufficient time. When the strain rate is higher than 1 s −1 , besides the commonly accepted reason of adiabatic heat generated by high strain rate, enhanced DRX nucleation mechanism is crucial for the promotion of DRX at high strain rate. High strain rate could lead to enhanced pile-up of dislocation and higher stored energy, which can facilitate the process of DRX. In addition, distortion or subdivision of twins and “grain fragment” are detected when the strain rate is higher than 1 s −1 , which provide additional DRX nucleation mechanism. As a result, the combined effect leads to the higher DRX nucleation rate to promote DRX at high strain rate. The effect of strain rate on DRX is the completion result between sufficiency of time on the one hand and adiabatic heat and enhanced nucleation mechanism on the other.