Five‐Parameter Grain Boundary Analysis by 3D EBSD of an Ultra Fine Grained CuZr Alloy Processed by Equal Channel Angular Pressing

Abstract

Abstract The 3D grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) of a sample subjected to equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) after eight passes and successive annealing at 650 °C for about 10 min is analyzed. The experiments are conducted using a dual beam system, which is a combination of a focused ion beam and a scanning electron microscope to collect a series of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) maps of the microstructure (3D EBSD). The data set was aligned and reconstructed to a 3D microstructure. The crystallographic character of the grain boundary planes was determined using three different methods, namely, the line segment method, the stereological method, and the triangular surface mesh method. The line segment and triangular surface mesh methods produce consistent data sets, both yielding approximately a 7% area fraction of coherent twins. These results starkly contrast that of the statistical stereological method, which produced a 44% area fraction of coherent twins.