Spatial distribution of the net Burgers vector density in a deformed single crystal

•An indented single crystal is investigated both experimentally and numerically.•Lattice rotation field and net Burgers density vector are measured through EBSD.•Introduced a β quantity and the β-fields to monitor the slip system activities.•Finite Element Simulations were performed to obtain β-fields.•The β-fields obtained experimentally and numerically are consistent.

A two-dimensional deformation field on an indented single crystal, where the only non-zero lattice rotation occurs in the plane of deformation and only three effective in-plane slip systems are activated, is investigated both experimentally and numerically. Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) is utilized to probe the lattice rotation field on the sample. The lattice rotation field is utilized to calculate the two non-zero components of Nye's dislocation density tensor, which serves as a link between plastic and elastic deformation states. The enhanced accuracy of EBSD enabled measurements of the net Burgers vector density, and a new quantity β, which monitors the activity of slip systems in the deformed zone. The β-field is compared to the slip system activity obtained by analytical solution and also by crystal plasticity simulations. A qualitative comparison of the three methods confirms that the β-field obtained experimentally agrees with the slip system activity obtained analytically and by numerical methods.