Background

Metals and ceramics are used in various fields of engineering endeavor including buildings, airplanes, automobiles, etc. In almost all of these applications the materials are polycrystalline and have a degree of texture, i.e. crystal orientation. The crystal orientation is typically derived as a result of materials processing stages such as forming and/or heat treatments. The crystal orientation can have a profound effect on thermal, electrical and mechanical properties. Hence analysis of the crystal orientation is crucial for controlling material properties. Crystal orientation can be determined from pole figures obtained by X-ray diffraction. Furthermore, from the analysis by the Crystallite Orientation Distribution Function (ODF) method, the volume fraction of the crystal orientation including other multiple orientations can be quantitatively obtained. In this example, the pole figure of Cu rolled sheet was measured and the volume fraction of crystal orientation was calculated.