Structure and Properties of Polycrystalline Materials

Abstract

An important factor influencing the mechanical properties of polycrystalline materials is the grain shape. A new model of generalised grain shape changes due to plastic deformation is presented, for homogeneous strains occurring when the principal axes are at an arbitrary orientation.Two-dimensional sections through an idealised polycrystal, taken at an arbitrary orientation, have been produced computationally for the first time, and these correspond closely with observations made on uniaxial test specimens subject to known tensile strains. One application of these idealised sections is to assess the methods of quantitative stereology in a rigorous, quantitative way, which has not previously been possible.