Distributions of Grain Boundary Normals in the Laboratory Reference Frame

Abstract

Distributions of grain boundary normals with their components expressed in the laboratory reference frame are obtained for yttria and austenitic steel based on three-dimensional electron backscatter diffraction data. The distributions exhibit various extrema that are attributed to the inaccuracy of the boundary surface reconstruction and to the discrete nature of the orientation data. We provide interpretation of the distributions with particular emphasis put on indicating the sources of these artifacts. Moreover, we verify the negligible impact of these issues on grain boundary plane and character distributions.