EBSD characterization of carbide-carbide boundaries in WC-Co composites

A sample of WC-6wt%Co was investigated for grain boundary character distribution and occurrence of coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries on a statistical basis. For this purpose orientation measurements of the grains were carried out using electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). The dominant misorientation relationships were determined by complementary EBSD data representation tools such as orientation maps, misorientation angle distribution histograms and the sectioned three-dimensional misorientation space. It was found that the grain boundary character distribution of the material is nearly random and the CSL boundaries are not present in statistically significant amounts. It was also found that the amount of binder phase does not play a role in the formation of special boundaries. The paper focuses on the methodology of characterizing grain boundaries in a hexagonal material using EBSD.