Orientation-dependent evolution of the dislocation density in grain populations with different crystallographic orientations relative to the tensile axis in a polycrystalline aggregate of stainless steel

Line profile analysis was carried out on neutron diffraction patterns collected by the energy-dispersive method for an in situ tensile-deformed AISI-316 stainless steel specimen. The experiments were carried out at the VULCAN engineering beam line of the spallation neutron source of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Both the dislocation densities and the local stresses in grains oriented with different h k l crystal directions along the tensile axis were determined. The work-hardening equation of Taylor was tested for the h k l-dependent phenomenological constant α. The grain-orientation-dependent α values were directly related to the heterogeneity of dislocation distribution in correlation with previous transmission electron microscopy data.