Scaling of microstructural parameters: Misorientations of deformation induced boundaries

A scaling hypothesis was developed and applied to parameters describing the evolving deformation microstructure based on a physics analogy with nucleation and aggregation during thin film growth. These parameters included the spacing and misorientation angles associated with dislocation boundaries. Detailed distributions of the misorientation angles that developed with increasing strain were measured using the transmission electron microscope and Kikuchi pattern analysis.

These widely varying distributions collapse into a single distribution when scaled by the average angle for a wide strain range from 0.06 to 0.8. Within this scaling regime, only one parameter governs the evolution of these structures: the average angle. Furthermore, the average angle was found to be simply related to the strain, providing a direct link between the microstructural parameters and the deformation.