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Tracking Grain Refinement After Severe Plastic Deformation

Tescan CLARA with EBSD reveals crystallographic evolution in ECAP-processed aluminum. 

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From Ductile to Strong, and Everything In Between

Grain structure tells the story of how a metal has been worked, shaped, and strengthened. In Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP), aluminum is pushed through a die to introduce extreme shear, producing finer grains and boosting mechanical performance. But to verify what’s happening at the microstructural level, surface imaging alone won’t cut it.

Using a combination of high-resolution SEM, channeling contrast imaging, and EBSD orientation mapping, researchers assessed how repeated ECAP passes altered grain morphology and alignment.

The result? A detailed, spatially accurate view of deformation-driven refinement.

What This Workflow

Makes Possible?

01
Root of the Problem

How Fine Is Fine Enough?

Severe plastic deformation techniques like ECAP are designed to push metals beyond their conventional grain size limits. But once grains shrink into the hundreds-of-nanometers range, conventional metallographic approaches start to fall short.

Without clear visibility into orientation and grain boundary behavior, it becomes difficult to assess whether a process sequence is producing the intended results, or whether it’s time to adjust parameters.

02
Materials and Methods

High-resolution SEM and EBSD mapping are used to assess microstructure after multi-pass deformation

The material under investigation was a commercially pure aluminum alloy processed through eight ECAP passes, introducing a high level of cumulative strain.

The following imaging sequence was conducted using a Tescan CLARA UHR SEM:

  1. SE and BSE imaging with wide-angle signal capture to obtain both channeling contrast and topographic information

EBSD mapping performed on two regions:

  1. 150 × 100 µm for texture overview

  2. 40 × 25 µm for high-detail inspection

BrightBeam™ electron optics delivered field free UHR characterization, while In-Flight Beam Tracing™ ensured seamless and fast application of optimal beam imaging and analytical conditions. Spot Optimization was used to enable detailed mapping of large areas, even at high beam currents. 

03
Results and Discussion

Evidence of Microstructural Progress

The SEM images capturing channeling contrast revealed different crystal orientations for individual grains after ECAP processing. This helped with identifying regions of interest for subsequent EBSD analysis.

The EBSD maps confirmed significant grain refinement, with features reduced to the submicron scale. Orientation data revealed preferential alignment of grains in specific directions, consistent with ECAP-induced shear patterns. The results were suitable for pole figure analysis, giving further insight into the deformation texture.

Altogether, these methods provide both visual and quantitative confirmation that ECAP processing achieved its structural goal: creating a fine-grained, texture-controlled aluminum alloy.

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Tescan Instruments & Technology

Used in This Workflow

Tescan CLARA

Versatile UHR field emission SEM tailored for high-detail imaging and crystallographic workflows.

  • In-chamber BSE detection for channeling contrast

  • BrightBeam™ technology for high resolution field free analysis

  • WideField OpticsTM for fast, high resolution EBSD mapping

  • Scintilator BSE detector for efficient channeling contrast detection

EBSD Mapping: Accelerate Crystallographic Structure Determination

  • Fast, high resolution EBSD data acquisition from large areas

  • Delivers statistically relevant grain orientation data

  • Delivers accurate orientation and boundary maps

  • Ideal for evaluating deformation patterns and process outcomes

CLARA GM Mat. Science

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