Electron backscatter diffraction and cracking

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is now a well developed technique that allows for determination of `microtexture', i.e. texture at the scale of the grain size. The effect of the local crystallographic properties on microscopic and macroscopic cracking resistance was studied in a large number of materials. Electron backscatter diffraction and EBSD related techniques provide a lot of data concerning intergranular, brittle transgranular, and fatigue cracking. In particular, they help with understanding the role of the grain boundary structure, the grain orientation and the misorientation between grains respectively. Electron backscatter diffraction characterisation of interfaces has already led to improvements of material performance in practical industrial applications, a typical example being given by grain boundary engineering. Information about the local crystallography together with a high spatial resolution encourages the application of the technique to cracking modes of other materials such as ceramics. Moreover, EBSD data can be of great relevance in micromechanical modelling of properties of polycrystalline materials.