Single crystals of the low stacking fault energy Cu-2%Al alloy, with initial orientation {112}<111>, have been deformed by compression in a channel die at 77 and 293 K. Microstructural and microtextural aspects of the formed brass-type shear bands were analyzed. Experimental techniques included TEM, SEM, optical microscopy together with SEM/EBSD and TEM/CBED microtexture measurements. The crystals first rotate by slip, then transform their orientation by deformation twinning. As shear banding starts, a strong increase of intensities near the Goss {110}<100> position is observed, and this process is connected with the rotation of twin lamellae within shear bands. At the TEM scale a second weaker component is noticed. Outside the bands, the twin-matrix lamellae rotate differently and the material reorients to {111}<112>.

Mechanisms of deformation in an age-hardenable Ni-Mo-Cr alloy containing large precipitates of the coherent ordered phase were investigated. The dominant deformation mechanism in the examined alloy depended on the applied amount of strain: for low strains micro-twinning within the ordered precipitates and dislocation slip in the matrix prevailed; at higher strains the f.c.c. twinning became the major deformation mechanism. Micro-twinning within the ordered phase was size related - micro-twins occur in large precipitates at relatively small strains. Twinning within the ordered precipitates may occur in all possible twin systems. Ten out of twelve possible twinning systems lead to the formation of true twins, and the long range order is preserved in the twinned regions. Formation of shear bands at high strains destroys the long range order.

A finite element 3D polycrystalline aggregate made of 216 grains is subjected to a mean axial deformation up to 1%. The heterogeneities inside the polycrystal are due to the crystallographic orientations of the grains - this appears at the scale of the mean responses per grain - and to the local interaction between neighbouring grains - this appears at the intragranular scale. The intragranular heterogeneity is measured as a function of the distance to the grain boundary, inside a single grain and for all the points of the microstructure. It is characterized by dispersions of the local responses due to grain boundaries. These measurements correspond to dispersions - variances -; the statistical errors have also been determined.

The inhomogeneity of deformation in aluminium and copper, processed by Equal-Channel Angular (ECA) pressing, is discussed on the basis of X-ray as well as neutron diffraction pole figure measurements and calculated orientation distribution functions. The influence of short time recrystallization is considered. Structure observations by means of optical microscopy, Electron Back Scattered Diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy were used to obtain complete information.

Numerical simulation by finite elements of the bending process of aluminium profile coated with rubber was performed, in order to predict the initiation of necking. Special attention was paid to the description of the boundary conditions, to the link between the different stages, and to the analysis of the hardening behaviour during the thermo-mechanical loading. The calculations permit to predict qualitatively the area of potential defect.

The residual stress field in a titanium nitride coating was determined using the X-ray diffraction method based on grazing incident angle geometry. The first order stress components were determined in TiN coating on WC and on steel substrates. The diffraction elastic constants calculated by the self-consistent method were used for the interpretation of the results. The advantages of the grazing incidence geometry are pointed out in the case of the examination of heterogeneous residual stresses in thin layers.

The energy stored in grains during cold rolling has been evaluated in a Fe-53%Ni alloy and in a duplex stainless steel using neutron diffraction. The measurements of diffraction peak broadening were undertaken to study the influence of stored energy on mechanisms that govern the development of the cube texture in a heavily cold rolled Fe-Ni alloy. The results suggest that the energy difference between the cube and the other main orientations increases with reduction and thus promotes the cube growth during recrystallization. It appears that such a method is relevant for a two-phase material. Furthermore, the energy levels found in the two phases are in good agreement with the strain measurements found in the literature. The austenite phase stores more energy than the ferrite one.

Copper single crystals with the {110}[001] initial orientation were cold rolled and subsequently compressed in a channel die with the new direction of plastic flow parallel to the former transverse direction of rolling. The texture formed during subsequent recrystallization showed components which were not characteristic for the texture of the deformed matrix. Shear bands were formed after the change in the direction of plastic flow. Recrystallization commenced within shear bands and proceeded by the growth of selected grains into the deformed matrix. Measurements of the local crystallographic orientations indicated that the processes predicted by the theory of oriented growth played an important role in the formation of recrystallization textures. The orientations of the fast growing grains could be produced as a result of the formation of recrystallization twins.

The microtexture components of `brass-type' shear bands developed by plane strain compression in twinned C-{112}<111> oriented silver single crystals have been characterized in detail by SEM/EBSD. The twinned matrix exhibits three different reorientation tendencies : 1) a general lattice rotation of the twinned matrix towards the {111}<112> position ; 2) a crystal lattice rotation, within the shear bands, around TD towards {110}<001> which favours the operation of two highly stressed coplanar slip systems of {111}<101> type ; 3) the formation of near S-Brass {123}<634>-{011}<112> texture components by non-equilibrium slip within the shear bands. In low SFE materials the strong intensities of these components result from a saturation of the microstructure by shear bands.

The formation of recrystallization microstructure and texture in ferritic steel sheets used in the automotive industry is presented and involved mechanisms are discussed in connection with the substructure formed during the deformation preceding the annealing. Nucleation principally happens in the gamma-fibre grains, which develop smaller deformation cells and higher local misorientations than the alpha-fibre grains. The development of the nuclei is then analyzed by analogy with the abnormal coarsening which sometimes occurs after recrystallization. Finally, some relations between recrystallization textures / microstructures and mechanical properties are shown, like the effect of the rolling level on the anisotropy or the decrease of mechanical properties when under-recrystallisation happens.

This article presents and discusses some modern techniques for high resolution orientation measurements in electron microscopy, including electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) in the scanning electron microscope and spot and Kikuchi diffraction as well as dark field conical scanning in the transmission electron microscope. The techniques are compared with respect to their applicability to studies of nucleation processes during recrystallization of highly deformed metals. These investigations make high demands on orientation measurements, as high spatial and angular resolution and insensitivity to lattice defects are required.

Textures and local orientations have been determined in copper alloys after cold rolling and annealing. The measurements show that for a strain below a given threshold a mixed “deformation-recrystallization” texture is obtained after a static primary recrystallization : the {100}<001> cube orientation becomes stronger as annealing procedes, but is not dominating in the final microstructure. Global texture determinations by X-ray diffraction coupled with local orientation measurements by EBSD (Electron Back-Scattered Diffraction) show that in materials cold rolled by 70 and 80%, the orientation changes at the very beginning of the recrystallization process (i.e. at nucleation) are crucial for the formation of the recrystallization texture.