Metal plasticity by grain rotation—Microdiffraction case studies

The synchrotron-based X-ray Laue microdiffraction technique has become more and more popular over that last year. In addition to measuring the deviatoric part of the elastic strain tensor this technique is specifically accurate in measuring grain rotations. The current paper illustrates the high rotational sensitivity by three deformation mechanisms that lead to grain rotation; one mechanism is the nearly diffusionless interaction between disclinations and dislocations a mechanism for low homologous temperatures and two mechanisms are interactions between diffusive mechanisms and dislocation motion, namely hillock growth upon thermal cycling and during electromigration. The communalities and differences between these mechanisms are discussed to provide further insight into a special deformation mode.