TECHNIQUES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF COMPLETE POLEFIGURES USING COMPOSITE SPECIMENS

A simple, accurate and flexible method is described for the preparation of composite samples from metal sheets. The basic technique can be adapted to conserve material or for the measurement of thick plate specimens. Any combination of the four possible quadrants of the polefigure can be determined singly or combined. In its routine application the technique is ideally suited to the measurement of three complete polefigures for the determination of orientation distribution functions. In particular, the through thickness integration, sheet area sampling and applicability to large grained materials make it suitable for the measurement of texture for comparison with bulk physical properties. Complete instructions are given for the application of the technique in practice.