Overcoming the drawbacks of plastic strain estimation based on KAM

Plastic strain estimation using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) based on kernel average misorientation (KAM) is affected by random orientation measurement error, EBSD step length, choice of kernel and average grain size. These sensitivities complicate reproducibility of results between labs, but it is shown in this work how these drawbacks can be overcome. The modifications to KAM were verified against a similar misorientation metric based on grain orientation spread (GOS), which does not show sensitivity to these factors. Both metrics were used in parallel to estimate the plastic strain distribution in Alloy 690 heat affected zones from component mockups, and showed the same results where the grain size was correctly compensated for.