Introduction to Texture Analysis: Macrotexture, Microtexture and Orientation Mapping by Valerie Randle

Today there are a selection of techniques available to analyze the texture, i.e., the crystallographic orientation, of materials. The well-established techniques of X-ray or neutron diffraction, known as macrotexture, are now supplemented by methods whereby individual orientations are measured in both transmission and scanning electron microscopes and directly related to the microstructure, which has given rise to the term microtexture. Microtexture practice has grown principally through the application of electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD), and it is now possible to measure orientations automatically from predetermined coordinates in the microstructure, which is known generically as orientation mapping. From the full range of these texture techniques, insights can be gained into material processing, corrosion, cracking, fatigue, grain boundary properties, and other phenomena with a crystallographic component.