自20世纪80年代，增材制造（又称3D打印）作为一种新兴的先进成型技术开始出现。进入21世纪后，该技术逐渐成熟，开始应用在航空、汽车、医疗等领域，用于生产具有不规则曲面、深凹孔洞、细密内腔或者较大的厚薄比等特点的精密构件。增材制造用金属粉末的质检指标主要包括粉末的形态特征和杂质含量。牛津仪器纳米分析技术可对金属粉末的质检提供完善的解决方案。AZtecAM是基于牛津仪器EDS技术的颗粒物自动检测系统，用于大面积范围内金属粉末的形态统计和成分分析。AZtecAM根据设定的分类方法对采集到的颗粒进行即时分类。如果用户对某个颗粒感兴趣，AZtecAM可将该颗粒物二次定位，移动到电镜视场内，便于用户进行进一步的分析。

在需要对某些主量和微量元素进行准确定量时，牛津仪器EDS还提供了第三种分析方法——有标样定量分析。该应用报告通过理论公式推导了有标样定量分析的测试条件，并通过磁铁矿标样证明牛津仪器EDS有标样定量分析的准确性。

Introduction There is increasing need for the micro-analyst to correctly determine chemical composition of regions on the sub-micron scale. Field emission SEMs offer an ideal tool for these tasks due their excellent spatial resolution and high brightness sources. However, in order to analyze these types of samples the accelerating voltage of the electron beam is commonly in the range 1-5kV. Traditionally when working at these voltages low count rates necessitated the use of EDS detectors with large crystals to maximize collection solid angle. Analysis using EDS at low kV is, however, complicated by the large number of overlapped X-ray lines seen in this part of the spectrum. New field emission SEMs that offer high currents at low kV are opening new opportunities to use the higher spectral resolution and sensitivity of WDS to analyze samples on the sub-micron scale.

Introduction When preparing a TEM lamella in focused ion beam (FIB), curtaining is a common obstacle. Curtaining is a roughness on the lamella as a result of non-uniform thinning which critically affects the quality of analytical data collected, in addition to the ability to image and thin the lamella. A common cause of curtaining is the presence of different materials with a range of milling rates. The solution we discuss here to reduce curtaining is to change the orientation in which a lamella is ion beam polished/thinned by using the rotation function of the OmniProbe 400 nanomanipulator.

Introduction The groundbreaking Symmetry CMOS-based EBSD detector, together with the powerful AZtec® software, is capable of acquiring EBSD and EDS data at speeds in excess of 3000 indexed patterns per second (pps). These speeds, twice as fast as those achievable with conventional CCD-based detectors, are further enhanced by the fact that extreme pixel-binning of the diffraction patterns is not necessary. This means that the quality of the data collected using Symmetry is significantly better than with CCD-based detectors, both in terms of hit rate and also angular accuracy. In this application note we give examples of how Symmetry can be used to characterise the microstructures in two example metals at high speeds, providing reliable statistics in affordable timescales.

Transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) is a relatively recent development in EBSD that allows high resolution analysis of electron transparent samples. Most applications in the literature have used TKD for targeted measurements of relatively small areas, on samples where conventional EBSD struggles to deliver the required resolution [1]. These samples are typically nanocrystalline metals and alloys, although increasingly the technique is also being used to characterise highly

For many materials, the truly important is how they perform and behave under the conditions that they are likely to be exposed to during their use-lifetime. This may be the application of stresses and strains in construction materials, the dielectric properties of ceramics or the corrosion resistance of materials as they are exposed to a variety of atmospheric conditions.

Metals alloys and ceramics have a place in almost all of global manufacturing. Whether it is the turbine blades in a jet engine, the ceramic brake pads on a sports car or the steel cables for a suspension bridge, understanding the composition and structure of these materials is critical in understanding their properties.

The exploration of new metallic systems for high-temperature applications is an important challenge in today’s materials science.

Abstract. This study investigates the changes in radial micro-texture via Kearn’s f-factors during single cold pilger reduction of a titanium Ti-3-2.5 alloy as a result of strain path changes from tooling modifications. EBSD results confirm that the texture intensity as well as the radial f-factors can be increased by modifications of pilgering tooling. In addition a switch between the secondary prism planes which lie normal to the pilger direction in the starting tube to primary prism planes after pilgering has been observed. Material and Experimental The tubes investigated were made from Ti alloy 3Al 2.5V, they were manufactured via hot extrusion and then cold pilgered. The cold pilger process configuration is schematically shown in Figure 1. Two strain paths, shown in the ‘Q‘ factor chart in Figure 2, were used in the manufactiure: texture minimised and texture maximised. They were annealed at 750oC before being cold pilgered and for this investigation they were stress relieved at 530oC for 2 hours prior to EBSD examination. Specimens were extracted from two regions either side of the reduced tube as shown in the schematic Figure 2, mounted in conductive Bakelite and polished mechanically for EBSD examination. The final polish was carried out using vibratory polishes using a mixture of 5:2 colloidal silica, hydrogen peroxide mixture. EBSD examination was conducted using a FEGSEM and OI EBSD Nordlys detector and AZtec Software.