The correct description of the mechanical behaviour of metallic materials after deformation to large strains required the quantitative determination of sub-structure characteristics on different length scales. Important tools for this purpose were transmission electron microscopy, electron back-scattering diffraction and X-ray diffraction, which led to quantities such as the mean total dislocation density, the density of excess dislocations stored in dislocation walls, the distributions and the averages of local lattice rotations and the size (chord length) of the lattice regions (cell blocks, fragments) of the mesoscale sub-structure. This illustrated the application of electron back-scattering diffraction and X-ray diffraction for the analysis of the deformation sub-structure occurring in polycrystalline Al during uniaxial compression up to strains of 2.

Electron Diffraction Analysis of Dislocation-Induced Substructure Evolution of Al Crystals in Compression. M.Masimov: Philosophical Magazine, 2007, 87[10], 1565-73