Correction of Pole Figures Measured on Small Diameter MetallicWires

In order to improve the mechanical properties of metallic wires and to achieve better understanding of their microstructure, it is necessary, among Other characteristics, to determine their crystallographic texture and to know how it changes through themanufacturing process. The most commonly used technique to determine the texture of a specimen is to measure intensity pole figures by X-ray diffraction, however, in the case of small diameter wires, this technique cannot be directly applied. Various methods, semi-empirical or experimental, has been proposed 0)(2)(3)(4) but they either lack rigour in their assumptions or are performed on comparatively large diameters (> 3mm). Two papers published recently (5)(6), are dealing with the subject on much more rigorous basis. Both of them start with the expression of the intensity I(,’t’) diffracted by a sample in a given direction (see figure 2). The sample is an array of wires placed side by side for intensity reasons.