Metals, Alloys, Composites and Ceramics

This is possibly the largest application field for Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD), since the technique has become the primary tool for characterising microstructures in most metals, alloys, composites and ceramics. The range of applications is numerous, from routine (and nowadays rapid) measurement of grain size and texture in rolled metal sheets, to the detailed analysis of dislocation densities associated with crack propagation. Many of these materials are relatively simple to analyse using EBSD, but advanced tools such as transmission Kikuchi diffraction or high-resolution pattern correlation approaches are increasingly being applied to improve our understanding of these materials.

Key to many of these applications is the close relationship between the physical properties of these materials and the microstructural parameters that can easily be measured by EBSD.

The following list gives an indication of some typical applications within this segment, although the complete range of applications is much larger:

• Routine characterisation of grain size and texture
• Identification of grain boundary precipitates with implications for crack formation
• Analysis of slip and twinning mechanisms in deformed materials

Phase map of a super duplex stainless steel, tested in mineral oil to simulate a seawater environment and to study the effect of s-phase intermetallics on stress corrosion cracking. The s-phase is in yellow, g-phase is in blue and a-phase is in red. Some cracks are indicated by arrows, showing how cracks were initiated in the s-phase, followed a path through some g-phase grains and were stopped by both g- and a-phases.