Three-dimensional investigation of the texture and microstructure below a nanoindent in a Cu single crystal using 3D EBSD and crystal plasticity finite element simulations

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This paper reports a three-dimensional (3D) study of the microstructure and texture below a conical nanoindent in a (111) Cu single crystal at nanometer-scale resolution. The experiments are conducted using a joint high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy/electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) set-up coupled with serial sectioning in a focused ion beam system in the form of a cross-beam 3D crystal orientation microscope (3D EBSD). The experiments (conducted in sets of subsequent (112¯) cross-section planes) reveal a pronounced deformation-induced 3D patterning of the lattice rotations below the indent. In the cross-section planes perpendicular to the (111) surface plane below the indenter tip the observed deformation-induced rotation pattern is characterized by an outer tangent zone with large absolute values of the rotations and an inner zone closer to the indenter axis with small rotations. The mapping of the rotation directions reveals multiple transition regimes with steep orientation gradients and frequent changes in sign. The experiments are compared to 3D elastic–viscoplastic crystal plasticity finite element simulations adopting the geometry and boundary conditions of the experiments. The simulations show a similar pattern for the absolute orientation changes but they fail to predict the fine details of the patterning of the rotation directions with the frequent changes in sign observed in the experiment. Also the simulations overemphasize the magnitude of the rotation field tangent to the indenter relative to that directly below the indenter tip.