Modeling of experimentally observed topological defects inside bulk polycrystals

Abstract

A rigorous methodology is developed for computing elastic fields generated by experimentally observed defect structures within grains in a polycrystal that has undergone tensile extension. An example application is made using a near-field high energy x-ray diffraction microscope measurement of a zirconium sample that underwent tensile extension from an initially well-annealed state. (Sub)grain boundary features are identified with apparent disclination line defects in them. The elastic fields of these features identified from the experiment are calculated.