Elasticity-based model of the variant selection observed in the β to α phase transformation of a Zircalloy-4 sample Original Research Article

The β→α texture inheritance of a Zircalloy-4 sample has been investigated after an α→β→α transformation cycle. The final inherited α texture has been determined from a crystal orientation map determined by electron back-scattering diffraction, whereas the texture of the high temperature β phase has been reconstructed by a method analysing the orientations and misorientations of α variants. The comparison of the α texture calculated from the parent β texture without variant selection with the experimental sharp α texture shows differences due to a strong variant selection mechanism occurring during the phase transformation at cooling. A model of a variant selection mechanism based on the elastic anisotropy of the parent β phase leads to a simulated inherited α texture with the main characteristics of the experimental texture.