Micro-texture of extruded Zr–2.5Nb tubes

We report the micro-texture of two extruded Zr–2.5Nb tubes determined using scanning electron microscopy combined with electron back-scattering diffraction (SEM/EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy and selected area diffraction (TEM/SAD). The pole figures determined by SEM/EBSD correspond well with bulk pole figures previously determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Three components of texture are seen to correlate with the shape and morphology of the α-grains and their contained dislocation substructures. The first component corresponds to elongated alpha grains containing a high density of a and c + a dislocations in which the c-axis is oriented at a relatively high angle to the long dimension of the α-grains as viewed in transverse section; these grains comprise a texture component with the c-axes in the radial transverse plane, tilted towards the radial direction. The second component corresponds to elongated α-grains containing a low dislocation density in which the c-axis is oriented parallel to the long dimension of the alpha grains: these grains also comprise a texture component with the c-axis in the radial/transverse plane, but predominantly in the transverse direction. The final component corresponds to colonies of Widmanstätten-like α-grains that are transformed from the β-phase: the majority of these grains have their c-axes in the axial direction. These grain have very low dislocation densities and are probably developed during cooling, after extrusion.