Visualization of the Bainite Fine Structure Using EBSD and Euler Angles

The electron backscatter diffraction method (EBSD) is widely used to study crystallographic orientational relationships of the steel microstructure constituents including bainite. Nevertheless the fine structure of bainite (subunits, plates) is not investigated by this method. In this paper we propose a technique for visualizing of the structure of a bainitic steel near-surface layer using the values of Euler angles obtained by EBSD method. A three-dimensional picture of the bainite fine structure of the HY-TUF steel obtained by the proposed technique is in satisfactory agreement with the data obtained earlier by the atomic force microscopy.     Keywords: steel; bainite; fine structure; plates; EBSD; Euler angles.