Combining Serial Sectioning, EBSD Analysis, and Image-Based Finite Element Modeling
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Sectioning, EBSD Analysis, and Image-Based Finite Element Modeling
G. Spanos, D.J. Rowenhorst, A.C. Lewis, and A.B. Geltmacher Abstract This article first provides a brief review of the status of the subfield of threedimensional (3D) materials analyses that combine serial sectioning, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and finite element modeling (FEM) of materials microstructures, with emphasis on initial investigations and how they led to the current state of this research area. The discussions focus on studies of the mechanical properties of polycrystalline materials where 3D reconstructions of the microstructure— including crystallographic orientation information—are used as input into image-based 3D FEM simulations. The authors’ recent work on a β-stabilized Ti alloy is utilized for specific examples to illustrate the capabilities of these experimental and modeling techniques, the challenges and the solutions associated with these methods, and the types of results and analyses that can be obtained by the close integration of experiments and simulations.
Introduction and Background Accurate reconstruction, analysis, and modeling of 3D microstructures are now becoming recognized as critical to improving the accuracy and efficiency of the materials and process design cycle. In this vein, within about the past decade, an increasing number of experimental investigations involving the serial sectioning and computer-aided three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of microstructures have been performed (e.g., see References 1–13). These types of studies have been made possible in large part by dramatic improvements in experimental serial sectioning techniques involving mechanical polishing, which has spatial resolutions as small as 0.2 µm and can accommodate volumes as large as 1 mm on a side.2,3,11 Additionally, new serial sectioning techniques using focused ion beam (FIB) milling have achieved resolutions as low
as 50 nm with volumes as large as 100 µm on a side.10,13 Furthermore, as a result of the advances made in computational hardware and software for 3D reconstruction of multiple serial sections, the analysis and rendering of 3D reconstructions have become more widely available. More recently, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) techniques,14,15 which allow for determination of the local crystal orientation in the scanning electron microscope (SEM), have been combined with serial sectioning methods to provide the crystallographic information for each grain and second-phase crystal in the fully reconstructed 3D microstructures (e.g., see References 1, 12, and 13). Along with the development of such robust 3D experimental data sets, a relatively new type of microstructural modeling— termed 3D image-based modeling16,17—
MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 33 • JUNE 2008 • www.mrs.org/bulletin
has emerged. In the present context, “image-based modeling” refers to a methodology whereby real, experimentally determined 3D microstructures are used as the initial input into models of microstructural response and evolution. T
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