Determining the crystallographic orientation of hexagonal crystal structure materials with surface acoustic wave...

Throughout our engineered environment, many materials exhibit a crystalline lattice structure. The orientation of such lattices is crucial in determining functional properties of these structures, including elasticity and magnetism. Hence, tools for determining orientation are highly sought after. Surface acoustic wave velocities in multiple directions can not only highlight the microstructure contrast, but also determine the crystallographic orientation by comparison to a pre-calculated velocity model. This approach has been widely used for the recovery of orientation in cubic materials, with accurate results. However, there is a demand to probe the microstructure in anisotropic crystals - such as hexagonal close packed titanium. Uniquely, hexagonal structure materials exhibit transverse isotropic linear elasticity. In this work, both experimental and simulation results are used to study the discrete effects of both experimental parameters and varying lattice anisotropy across the orientation space, on orientation determination accuracy. Results summarise the theoretical and practical limits of hexagonal orientation determination by linear SAW measurements. Experimental results from a polycrystalline titanium specimen, obtained by electron back scatter diffraction and spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy show good agreement (errors of ϕ₁=5.14° and Φ=6.99°). Experimental errors are in accordance with those suggested by simulation, according to the experimental parameters. Further experimental results demonstrate dramatically improved orientation results (Φ error <1°). Demonstrating the possibility of achieving results near the theoretical limit by strict control of the experimental parameters.