A new experimental method was developed for determining the volume fraction of recrystallized structure in a polycrystalline material. The method was based upon the comparison of electron back-scattered diffraction patterns from adjacent locations in a polycrystal. Positions along a line were tested in order to determine whether adjacent points had the same crystal lattice orientation; thus indicating that no dislocation structure existed between the two locations. If the distance between the positions was relatively small, it was sure that the 2 points lay within a region of essentially defect-free lattice. Scanning through a region of material in this manner yielded the linear fraction of recrystallized material. This could then be related to the volume fraction.

D.P.Field: Materials Science and Engineering A, 1995, 190[1-2], 241-6