Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials Science & Engineering A

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msea

Effect of grain size on deformation and fracture of Inconel718: An in-situ

SEM-EBSD-DIC investigation
Wenjie Gao a, Junxia Lu a, **, Jianli Zhou a, Ling’en Liu a, Jin Wang b, Yuefei Zhang b, *, Ze Zhang b
a
Faculty of Materials and Manufacturing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China
b
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The effects of grain size on tensile behavior of Inconel718 superalloy have been characterized by an in-situ
Inconel718 alloy tensile stage inside a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with electron backscatter diffraction
Grain size effect (EBSD) and digital image correlation (DIC) at room temperature. The microstructure evolution and mechanical
In-situ SEM observation
properties of specimens under different heat treatments were performed and compared. The in-situ tensile test
EBSD
Tensile behavior
showed that the yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and reduction of cross section decrease with the
increasing grain size. An in-situ EBSD study showed that with increasing stress the local plastic deformation
become more inhomogeneous. An analysis combined in-situ SEM morphology evolution, DIC strain distribution
and EBSD results indicated that the grains deformed coordinately. Geometrically necessary dislocation (GND)
density depends on the grain size and the orientation of individual grains. The coordinated deformation ability
decreased with increasing grain size. The fracture morphology showed that with the increase of grain size, the
fracture mechanism transformed from the ductile transgranular fracture to the brittle intergranular-transgranular
mixed fracture.

1. Introduction service properties of polycrystalline superalloys like Inconel718, but

Inconel718 is a Ni–Cr–Fe based superalloy with high mechanical
properties, excellent corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance at
elevated temperature, which make it widely used for critical compo­
nents in aerospace industry field, such as turbine disks, chambers and
fasteners [1–3]. Microstructures, including grain size distribution [4–6],
inclusions [7,8], texture and twin boundaries [9–12], strongly de­
termines the deformation behavior and mechanical properties of
nickel-based superalloy. Among these microstructures, grain size is an
important factor in both the production and application of poly­
crystalline superalloys. One aspect is that grain refinement is a common
method to improve the mechanical properties of superalloys [13–15],
the other one is nickel-based superalloy has been used in micro forming
process [16,17], for the parts or specimens in microscopic scale, their
mechanical properties and fracture behavior are significantly different
from those in macroscopic scale, especially when the ratio between
specimen size and grain size is less than a certain extent [18–20].
Realizing the effect of grain size on the deformation behavior and
fracture mechanism not only has significant influence on improving
also guides the manufacture and form procedure.
The effects of grain size on mechanical properties and fracture
mechanism have been studied by many researchers. Lim et al. [21]
studied the grain size effect on EAZT211 alloy sheet and found that the
yield strength of exhibits grain size dependence relies on Hall-Patch
relationship. Liu et al. [22] studied fracture behaviors of Inconel718
superalloy sheet in different grain sizes under uniaxial tensile tests and
found that the strength level was divided into different levels by a
critical specimen thickness(t) to grain size(d) ratio value, besides the
number of dimples and micro-void on fracture surface decreased with
increasing grain size. Raulea et al. [23] found that the yield strength and
maximum load decrease with decreasing number of grains across spec­
imen thickness. Du et al. [24] studied the effects of grain refinement on
mechanical properties of Ni-based superalloy and found that the tensile
properties of K417G superalloy increase with decreasing grain size, and
the tensile fracture mode transform from transgranular to intergranular.
The early study on grain size effects mainly according to mechanical
property curves and fracture morphology, in recent decades, more
advanced investigation methods, such as EBSD and synchrotron

* Corresponding author.
** Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: junxialv@bjut.edu.cn (J. Lu), yfzhang76@zju.edu.cn (Y. Zhang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2022.144361
Received 7 October 2022; Received in revised form 14 November 2022; Accepted 16 November 2022
Available online 21 November 2022
0921-5093/© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
W. Gao et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361

Table 1
Chemical compositions of IN718 alloy (wt%).
Ni Cr Fe Nb Mo Ti Al C B Co Mg Mn

53.71 17.98 18 5.41 2.90 0.92 0.46 0.02 0.34 0.27 0.002 0.06

Fig. 1. (a) In-situ tensile specimens; (b) Schematic diagram of specimens’ size.

radiation X-ray tomography were introduced to study the effects of grain

size on deformation and fracture mechanisms of polycrystalline metals.
Wei et al. [25] studied the grain size effect on deformation behavior of
pure rhenium via EBSD and SEM analysis, he reported that non-basal
slip was slip and obvious transition from non-basal slip to basal
slip-dominated flow occurred with decrease of grain size. Shang et al.
[26] used SEM-EBSD analysis combined with crystal plasticity modeling
to study the effects of grain size on void evolution and ductile fracture
and found that coalescence of densely distributed voids dominates the
fracture initiation for the fine grain sample; for sample with coarse grain
the growth and coalescence of individual large void are critical for
fracture occurrence. Zhu et al. [18] used EBSD and in-situ synchrotron
radiation X-ray tomography studied effects of grain size on micro tensile
deformation and fracture behaviors, the results show that the increase of
grain size induces inhomogeneous plastic deformation and the inter­
granular and transgranular fracture jointly control the fracture
behavior. Although EBSD is powerful in measuring lattice rotation and
misorientation distribution, it has limitation to reflect partial strain
evolution. As a non-contact measurement method, DIC is suitable and
reliable to measure strain localization in in-situ experiment and inves­
tigate the relationship between microstructure and plastic deformation.
Although plenty of investigations of effect of grain size on mechan­
ical properties, deformation and fracture mechanisms have been
completed, these studies are mostly conducted by ex-situ test, in-situ
studies are rare. Compared with in-situ investigation, ex-situ investiga­
tion is after-effect analysis. Therefore, in-situ investigation of the grain
effect on polycrystalline metals, such as Inconel718, is of great signifi­
cance for it could greatly help to research the deformation behavior
under different certain load condition and to realize how the grains
influence each other in real time, so that deeply understand the effect of
grain size on superalloy over whole load deformation process.
In the current study, the grain size effects on Inconel718 superalloy
were studied via in-situ SEM-EBSD-DIC. Inconel718 specimens with
different grain sizes were gained by different heat treatment. To observe
the real time microstructure evolution under deformation and to reveal
the grain size effects on mechanical properties of specimens, a self-
developed in-situ tensile stage was put into SEM chamber. In-situ
EBSD was used to study microstructure evolution at different tensile
conditions. DIC was used to investigate the strain localization in indi­
vidual grains. After tensile test, the fracture surfaces were characterized
by SEM. The effects of grain size on mechanical properties, deformation
Table 2
The applied heat treatment program for different sample (WQ: water quench,
FC: furnace cool, AC: air cool).
Number of heat treatment Solution Aging treatment
procedures treatment
1 1000◦ C/1h, 725◦ C/8h, FC at 55 ◦ C/h to 625◦ C
WQ + 625◦ C/8h, AC
2 1065◦ C/1h, 725◦ C/8h, FC at 55 ◦ C/h to 625◦ C
WQ + 625◦ C/8h, AC
behavior and failure mechanism were discussed based on the experi­
mental results. The results are of fundamental and technical significance
to the production and application of Ni-based superalloy.
2. Experimental procedures
2.1. Material preparation
The turbine disk of Inconel718 alloy was used in this study. The
chemical composition (wt.%) of the superalloy are shown in Table 1. To
get micro-tensile specimens, the disk was wire-cut into dog-bone shaped
geometry with a gage length of 1.5 mm, a gage thickness of 0.7 mm and
a gage width of 1.5 mm as shown in Fig. 1 by electrical discharge
machining (EDM).
To investigate the grain size effects on specimens’ mechanical
properties, microstructure evolution, strain distribution and fracture
behavior, the specimens were divided into 2 groups to subject to
different heat treatment procedures shown in Table 2. Heat treatment
was carried out in atmospheric environment using air furnace. After heat
treatment, the specimens were polished with silicon abrasive papers
(SiC 300# to 2000#) and 0.5 μm diamond paste until mirror smooth and
then etched with a mixture solution of 100 ml HCl, 100 ml C2H5OH and
5 g CuCl2 for 1 min at room temperature to reveal the microstructure. To
meet the surface requirement for EBSD, the specimens were electro­
chemically polished in a solution of HClO4 and C2H5OH firstly with a
voltage of 18 V at room temperature for 15 s. To generate pattern for DIC
analysis, the specimens were second-stepped electrochemically polished
with a voltage of 27 V at room temperature for 5 s to generate tiny
bumps, these bumps can serve as pattern and won’t influence EBSD
measurement [27].

2
W. Gao et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361

Fig. 2. (a, b) Schematic diagram and photo of in-situ tensile system; (c, d) Schematic diagrams and photos of in-situ EBSD system.

2.2. In-situ tensile SEM-EBSD
The in-situ tensile test system consists of self-developed in-situ ten­
sile stage and TESCAN S8000 SEM, as shown in Fig. 2(a) and (b). The
sample was hold by clamps to let the electron beam scan its surface. The
tensile stage is driven by a motor and a double screw, a multi-gear
system realizes uniaxial tensile along the central axis of the specimens.
The three main parameters of the tensile stage are: Force sensor range
from 0 N to 2500 N with an accuracy ±0.1%, Loading speed range from
0 μm/s to 12 μm/s, Displacement resolution: 0.5 μm. A previous work
[28] has reported detailed description of the system.
In this current study, in-situ tensile test was conducted at a load
speed of 1 μm/s at room temperature. Before tensile, the real size of the
specimens was measured to confirm the effective cross section so that
the stress could be calculated. The real time load-displacement curve
was recorded via the control system, and the tensile test could be paused
at any certain deformation condition to observe the morphology of the
specimen and take SEM image according to the curve. After image
acquisition, the tensile test was resumed. After tensile test, the fracture
morphologies were observed via SEM to show the fracture mechanism.

Fig. 3. (a, b) IPF maps of FG and CG specimens under different heat treatment and (c, d) their average grain size.

3
W. Gao et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361

Fig. 4. (a, b) SEM images of TiN and MC carbide; (c, d) elemental distribution mapping of (a) and (b).

To study the microstructure evolution, including grain orientation

evolution, slip system activation, grain boundary evolution and strain
localization of the sample under deformation in real time, a 50◦ tilted
holder was introduced into the in-situ tensile system and sample was
titled to 20◦ so that EBSD (Symmetry, Oxford) data could be collected
during the interruption, as shown in Fig. 2(c) and (d). The accelerating
voltage is 20 kV, working distance is 18 mm, scanning step is 1.5 μm.
Three EBSD mapping regions were selected for each sample and SEM
images of the same regions were taken after each EBSD scanning for DIC
analysis. The EBSD data analysis software is Aztec Crystal (Oxford).

2.3. DIC measurement

In this study the pattern for DIC analysis was generated by before
mentioned two-step electrochemically polished method. After every
EBSD scanning, the morphology of the same research area was taken
through SEM in high resolution for DIC analysis, so that we can relate
the strain localization and microstructure evolution to investigate
plastic deformation mechanisms. Images were obtained at a resolution
of 4096 × 3072 pixels. DIC analysis was performed using Nocrr open-
source MATLAB software, subset size is 30 μm, step size is 4 μm. Fig. 5. Stress-displacement curve of Inconel718 specimens under different
Based on the deformation sequence, DIC analysis provided displacement heat treatment.
field, u(X), to calculate tensile strain, εxx. Distribution of εxx represented
strain localization in the area of interest. grain size distribution of specimens, the equivalent diameter is used to
calculate the average grain size. It can be found that the average grain
3. Results size increases from 14.82 μm to 73.61 μm with increasing solution
temperature from 1000◦ C to 1065◦ C.
3.1. Microstructures A certain number of polygonal-shaped particles could be observed at
grain boundaries and inside grains, these particles show different
The initial microstructures of the fine grain (FG) and coarse grain contrast in SEM images. According to Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy
(CG) tensile specimens subjected to different heat treatment are shown (EDS) analysis as shown in Fig. 4, these particles could be confirmed to
by inverse pole figure (IPF) maps in Fig. 3. The random orientation of the be (Ti,Nb) N and MC carbides.
specimens indicating that heat treatment eliminates the texture and the
grains are equiaxed. Besides, a large number of annealing twinning
microstructures could be observed. Fig. 3(c) and (d) show the average

4
W. Gao et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361

Table 3 to 73.61 μm, the YS decreases by 85 MPa and UTS decreases by 273 MPa.
Mechanical properties of fine and coarse grain Inconel718 specimens. The reduction of cross section decreases from 22.72% to 13.56%.
Average grain Yield stress/ Ultimate tensile Reduction of cross
size/μm MPa stress/MPa section/% 3.3. In-situ observation of morphology evolution during tensile
14.82 1120 1463 22.72 deformation
73.61 1035 1190 13.56
The surface morphology evolution of specimens with various
average grain sizes under tensile deformation was observed via In-situ
3.2. Mechanical properties
SEM. Fig. 6 shows the whole deformation process of the sample with
average grain size of 14.82 μm. The original surface morphologies
To investigate the influence of grain size effect on microstructure
before tensile are shown in Fig. 6(a1-a3). When the stress reached 1260
evolution and mechanical properties of the samples under deformation,
MPa beyond yield point and the sample under strain hardening stage
in-situ tensile experiments were implemented. The stress-displacement
(point b1 on the red curve in Fig. 5), slip bands could be observed but
curves of specimens with different average grain size are shown in
grain boundaries didn’t change obviously as shown in Fig. 6(b1) - (b2),
Fig. 5. It should be noted that because of stress relaxation during the
which indicates that the plastic deformation is mainly accommodated by
interruption of tensile test [29], stepwise patterns at certain stage of the
slip. At this tensile stage, only single slip bands could be observed in
curves could be observed, the slight drop of value proves that the tensile
some of the grains, and crack could be observed on particles, as Fig. 6
stage is stable. The strain hardening phenomenon could be observed
(b3) shown. When the stress increased to 1446 MPa (point c1 of the red
from the curves of different specimens that the flow stress increase with
curve), the plastic deformation became stronger, the grains were obvi­
increasing deformation. The strain hardening phenomenon of FG spec­
ously elongated, and the surface of the sample became uneven. Fig. 6(c2)
imen is more obvious according to the curves. Additionally, the flow
shows that the grain boundary become curved and the contrast changes,
stress decreases with increasing average grain size.
indicating that the grains have rotated in order to coordinate the
The values of yield stress (YS), ultimate tensile stress (UTS) and
deformation so that strain has accumulated at the grain boundary.
reduction of cross section of the fine and coarse specimens are shown in
Particles cracked into pieces and voids on grain boundary could be
Table 3. It is obvious that all these values decrease with the increasing
observed as Fig. 6(c3) shown. When stress decreased to 1393 MPa from
average grain size. When the average grain size increases from 14.82 μm
higher value, the morphologies of the sample’s surface before fracture

Fig. 6. Morphology evolution of specimen with average grain size of 14.82 μm at different stress under tensile deformation: (a1-a3) 0 MPa; (b1-b3) 1260 MPa; (c1-c3)
1446 MPa; (d1-d3) 1393 MPa.

5
W. Gao et al.
Fig. 7. Morphology evolution of sample with average grain size of 73.61 μm at
different stress under tensile deformation: (a1, a2) 1091 MPa; (b1, b2) 1132
MPa; (c1, c2) 1175 MPa; (d1, d2) 1180 MPa.
are shown in Fig. 6(d1-d3), obvious necking of the sample could be
noticed and the stress concentration caused by necking lead to the
initiation of long cracks. These cracks contain both intergranular and
transgranular cracks, as Fig. 6(d3) shown. The grains were obviously
elongated, and the intergranular cracks seem to be induced by the
extrusion of adjacent grains. In addition, most of the voids caused by
particle crack didn’t propagate to long cracks. With tensile continued,
the cracks on the surface of specimen connected each other and led to
the final fracture of the specimen.
Compared with the FG specimens, the CG specimen with average
grain size of 73.61 μm shows different features during tensile defor­
mation as Fig. 7 shown. When the stress reached 1091 MPa (point a2 of
the blue curve), the specimen was beyond yield point and the surface
morphology of the sample had no obvious change. But slip traces
belonging to different slip systems could be observed as shown in Fig. 7
(a2), which is not observed in the FG specimen under the similar tensile
stage. At the same time, it is worth noting that, unlike the FG specimens,
the particles on the surface of the CG specimen did not crack at the
similar tensile stage. With stress increasing to 1132 MPa (point b2 of the
blue curve), as Fig. 7(b1-b2) shows, the grain boundaries became curved
and the surface of the specimen became uneven, density of slip bands
increased, and more multiple slip systems were activated. When stress
reached 1175 MPa (point c2 of the blue curve), the necking of the sample
was not obvious, the grains were elongated, and the grain boundaries
became curved indicating that the grains have rotated to coordinate the
6
Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361
deformation. At the same time, the carbides on the surface of the sample
cracked and voids inside grains and at grain boundaries could be
observed, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 7(c2). When the specimen was
about to crack and the stress was 1180 MPa (point d2 of the blue curve),
it could be noticed that the necking behavior of FG specimen is much
more obvious than CG specimen as Fig. 7(d1) and Fig. 6(d1) shown,
which is evidenced by the reduction of cross section, the value for FG
specimen is 22.72% and for CG specimen is 13.56%. Fig. 7(d2) shows
that the voids at grain boundary were enlarged during deformation and
propagated to transgranular crack.
3.4. Microstructure evolution during tensile deformation
The microstructural evolution of the research area and certain grains
during tensile deformation was investigated via in-situ tensile EBSD and
shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The normal direction of the sample surface is the
observation direction, and the horizontal direction(X) is the loading
direction. To investigate the influence of neighboring grains, twins were
regarded as different grains. Several certain grains were assessed in the
undeformed samples. Fig. 8(a) shows that the undeformed grains
contain uniform orientation distribution before loading. When the ten­
sile stress increased to 1127 MPa and the sample just beyond yield stage,
grain orientation rotation could be observed from the IPF map. Orien­
tation distribution in some grains became uneven and changed to
varying degrees, that is, in grains 6 and 7. At this stage most of the grains
still maintain their original orientation, such as grains 1, 3 and 5. With
plastic deformation process and increasing stress to 1175 MPa, more
grains contained uneven orientation distribution and multiple sub­
regions could be observed within grains 2, 4, 6 and 7, indicating inho­
mogeneous deformation in individual grains. The grain orientation
evolution of CG sample is shown in Fig. 9(a), which is similar to the
results of FG sample. It could be concluded that grains rotated and grain
orientation significantly varied with increasing stress. It’s notable that
large misorientation within grains tends to occur at twin boundaries or
trigeminal grain boundaries and evolved to substructure.
The lattice rotation path can be manifested by the evolution of the
grain orientation parallel to the loading direction X [30,31]. The lattice
rotation paths of individual neighboring grains in FG sample are shown
in Fig. 8(b). Grains 4 and 5 are analyzed together for the similar original
orientation (misorientation around 5◦ ) and rotation behavior. Individ­
ual grains rotated continuously with increasing stress. The splash
pattern indicated that misorientation was significant in grains 4, 5 and 7
although the plastic deformation was not extreme. On the contrary, less
misorientation appeared in grains 1, 2, 3 and 6. Different rotation
behavior indicated inhomogeneous deformation. Fig. 9(b) shows that
similar lattice rotation behavior was also observed in CG sample, which
indicates that rotation of several individual grains has little relation with
grain size. Besides, according to the classical modes proposed by Sack
[32] and Taylor [33], for a single-crystal face-centered cubic (FCC)
metal under plastic deformation, the orientation will rotate to a
<− 112> stable position. The experimental results show that the rota­
tion paths of grains 1, 4, 5 in FG sample and grains 2, 4, 5 in CG sample
follow the classical modes, while the rotation paths of other grains
deviated from the stable position, which means for polycrystalline
metal, the orientation behavior of individual grain not only follows the
classical modes but also influenced by surrounding grains and the whole
sample deformed coordinately.
In-situ SEM tensile test shows the multiscale morphology evolution
of specimens at different deformation stage during the whole tensile
process. Essentially local misorientation could be used to characterized
plastic strain evolution in deformed materials [29]. The strain locali­
zation of the FG and CG specimens is shown in Fig. 10. The strain
localization is characterized by kernel average misorientation (KAM)
analysis. KAM maps (Fig. 10(a and b)) show that with KAM value
increased continuously with increasing stress, which is consistent with
the inhomogeneous grain rotation behavior. Moreover, larger KAM
W. Gao et al.
Fig. 8. (a) Grain orientation evolution maps of FG sample subjected to different levels of stress (0 MPa, 1127 MPa, 1175 MPa). (b) Orientation evolution parallel to
the loading direction X of individual grains during tensile deformation in an IPF.
tends to accumulate near twin boundaries, trigeminal grain boundaries
and subregions, which indicates that the inhomogeneous and coordi­
nated deformation of neighboring grain caused strain localization. The
comparing of KAM values of FG/CG samples at different stress levels
(Fig. 10(c and d)) shows that KAM values are around 1◦ when stress is 0
MPa. When stress increased, the distribution of KAM values varied and
proportion of KAM >1◦ increased, indicating increasing deformation
inhomogeneity. The trend and value of KAM evolution of FG/CG sam­
ples don’t show obvious different, which means the partial area and
individual grains of both FG and CG samples have similar coordinate
deformation trend.
3.5. Fractographies of samples with different grain sizes
To investigate the effect of grain size on fracture mechanisms in
microscale, the morphologies of fracture surfaces of FG and CG
7
Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361
specimens are researched through SEM as Fig. 11 shown. Fig. 11(a1)
shows the fractography of FG specimen. It can be observed that the
fracture surface is flat and the middle of the fracture surface is covered
by equiaxed dimples (marked by the white dash square) and the edge is
covered by shallow dimples. The mixed structure of fracture surface
indicates that the fracture mode of FG specimen is transgranular frac­
ture. Besides, many large voids could be observed on the fracture sur­
face, which are caused by particles (TiN and MC carbides) as Fig. 11(a2).
It could be assumed that the cracking of particles is an important source
for fracture behavior. Fig. 11(a3) shows that many small voids could also
be observed on fracture surface, these micro-voids coalesced to form
dimples and lead to fracture [22]. For the CG specimen, the fractography
is much different from FG specimen. Fig. 11(b1) shows that the fracture
surface is uneven and covered by shallow dimples. The size of dimples
increases with increasing average grain size. Large voids caused by
particles crack decreased compared with FG specimen. In addition,
W. Gao et al.
Fig. 9. (a) Grain orientation evolution maps of CG sample subjected to different levels of stress (0 MPa, 1079 MPa, 1108 MPa). (b) Orientation evolution parallel to
the loading direction X of individual grains during tensile deformation in an IPF.
intergranular surfaces and cracks could be observed from the
morphology, as Fig. 11(b2) and (b3) shown. Such mixed fracture char­
acteristics reveal that the decrease of plastic deformation ability and
mixed trans-intergranular fracture mode of CG specimen.
4. Discussion
4.1. Mechanism of rotation and coordinated deformation of adjacent
grains
The morphology and microstructure evolution of Inconel718 super­
alloy specimens with various average grain sizes have been analyzed in
previous sections focusing on the over changes under tensile deforma­
tion. However, the macroscopic changes are highly influenced by the
joint action of individual grains. The microstructure evolution process
shows that individual grains tend to deform coordinately. To study the
8
Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361
mechanism of rotation and coordinated deformation of adjacent grains
and the deformation inside each single grain is important to understand
the plastic deformation behavior of the whole specimens.
Fig. 12 shows the rotation and coordinated deformation of 11 adja­
cent grains of an FG specimen via in-situ EBSD experiment at different
stress levels (0 MPa, 1127 MPa, 1175 MPa), this research area is same
with Fig. 8. Fig. 12(a) shows the morphology evolution and activated
slip system of individual grains. The determination of the slip system
through following steps [34]: using the Euler angles of a grain to
determine the four {111} slip plane traces and thus determine which
plane the slip traces belong to, the slip direction is determined by
calculating the largest Schmid factor of all the {111} <111> slip sys­
tems. Fig. 12(b) shows the increment strain distribution via DIC analysis.
The pattern used for DIC was generated through electrolytic polishing
and corrosion when preparing specimens. Fig. 12(c) shows the Schmid
factor distribution evolution and Fig. 12(d) shows the histogram of the
W. Gao et al.
Fig. 10. (a, b) KAM value maps of FG/CG samples subjected to different stress levels. (c, d) Distribution of KAM values at different stress levels in FG/CG samples.
Schmid factor value corresponding to Fig. 12(c).
When the stress reached 1127 MPa and the specimen yielded, it can
be observed from the morphology that most of grains (grains 1, 3, 4, 5, 6,
9, 10, 11) activated slip systems firstly and slip traces appeared on the
specimen’s surface. It is worth to note that only single slip system was
activated in these grains except grain 6. The strain distribution map in
Fig. 12(b) shows that the strain among grains is heterogeneous and grain
bands are consisted with the slip traces, which indicates that at this stage
dislocation slip is the main plastic deformation method to release stress.
When tensile stress increased to 1175 MPa, more slip traces could be
observed in the prior slipped grains and the strain bands became
extremer. Slip systems in grains 2, 11, 12 activated with grain orienta­
tion rotation as shown in Fig. 8 (a). Besides, although no slip traces could
be observed in grains 7 and 8, large strain localization appeared in these
grains. Combined with the grain orientation rotation shown in Fig. 8 and
misorientation accumulated shown in Fig. 10, we could conclude that
grains 7 and 8 deformed coordinately with other grains through grain
rotation to maintain the continuity of the whole specimen instead of
activating slip systems.
The Schmid factor (SF) is often used in research to judge the diffi­
culty level of slip system activation in individual grains. The larger the
Schmidt factor a grain has, the easier for it to activate the slip system and
to deform, this kind of grain orientation is called soft orientation. The
opposite situation is called hard orientation. Grains with Schmidt factor
larger than 0.45 are defined as soft orientation grains. As shown in
Fig. 12 (a) and (c), when stress reached 1127 MPa, most firstly slipped
grains have high SF and soft orientation. However, grains with low SF
(grains1, 3, 11) still activated slip systems and grain 12 with soft
orientation didn’t slip indicate that the value of Schmid factor is not the
only decision factor for slip system activation. When stress increased to
1175 MPa, grains 2 and 13 rotated to softer orientation and activated
slip systems with coordinated rotation of neighboring grains. Fig. 12 (d)
shows that before loading the percentage of soft orientation is 78%, the
value decreased to 70% when stress reached 1175 MPa, which indicates
that the research area tends to a harder orientation.
9
Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361
To conclude, individual grains deform through slip system activation
and rotation to release the stress and keep the continuity of specimen. To
activate the slip system, the hard-oriented grains will continue to rotate
during the deformation process to achieve a favorable orientation, while
soft-oriented grains adjacent to them also rotate coordinately to ensure
the continuity of all the grains.
4.2. Geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) development
During the coordinated deformation of polycrystalline Inconel718
alloy, GNDs are generated to connect the inhomogeneous plastic
deformation of individual grains so as to ensure the compatibility re­
quirements. Dislocation strengthening can influence the deformation
behavior and mechanical properties of alloy, Smith et al. [35] pointed
out that in FCC metals GNDs account for most dislocations so that in this
current study GND development is investigated.
The GND density was calculated through EBSD data, kernel size is 9
× 9 and the Burgers vector of Inconel718 is 0.25 nm. Fig. 13 (a) and (b)
show that the GND density distribution development at different stress
of FG and CG sample. Similar phenomenon was observed at all three
areas of interest (AOI), we show the same area of previous sections for
better comparison. It could be noticed that the GND density distribution
is consisted with KAM map and the GND density concentration area is
consisted with strain concentration area in DIC map, which points that
the GND concentration is generated due to local plastic deformation and
orientation rotation. However, in DIC map the strain band is consisted
with slip traces, which is not observed in GND density map. It could be
easily noticed that the GND density value of CG sample is much less than
FG sample, similar trend is also observed by Littlewood et al. [36] and
Kundu et al. [37]. One aspect to explain such trend is that FG sample
with larger average grain size permits more free movement and wider
dislocation spacing to reduce GND accumulation [38]. The other
mechanism is that FG sample contains more grain boundaries and the
grain boundary can serve as obstacle for dislocation movement leading
to dislocation accumulation near grain boundary. The evolution of GND
W. Gao et al.
Fig. 11. Comparison of fracture morphologies: (a1-a3) FG specimen; (b1-b3) CG specimen.
density in individual grains also shows difference. Fig. 13(c) shows the
GND density evolution of three individual grains 1, 3 and 4. Grain 4 has
soft orientation and its SF is 0.48. Grain 3 is a hard grain with a 0.39 SF
value. The SF of grain 1 is between grain 1 and 4. In the soft grain 4,
when the stress reached 1127 MPa and sample yielded, the GNDs
distributed in the whole grain. With stress increasing to 1175 MPa, most
of the GNDs moved and accumulated near the grain boundary. The hard
grain 3, on the contrary, the GNDs didn’t show obvious accumulation
behavior during the stress increasing process. For grain 1, just like it’s SF
value, the GNDs evolution trend is between grain 3 and 4: the GNDs
tends to move to grain boundaries with some GNDs accumulated inside
10
Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361
the grain. Previous study [39] demonstrated that in soft grain the GNDs
will continue to move on the slip plane until reach grain boundaries, and
the GNDs will accumulate inside hard grain, which is consisted with this
study. Moreover, this current study shows that for grain with “medi­
um-orientation” like grain 1, the GNDs tend to accumulated at the sub
area with high orientation rotation (compared with Fig. 8). Fig. 13 (d)
shows that the average GND density of grians1, 2, 3 and the AOI of FG
and CG sample. The increasing rate of FG is larger than CG, and the
comparison between hard and soft grains shows the same trend.
W. Gao et al.
Fig. 12. Coordinate deformation of adjacent grains 1–11 subjected to different stress levels (0 MPa, 1127 MPa, 1175 MPa): (a) morphology evolution; (b) strain
evolution; (c) Schmid factor distribution evolution; (d) histograms of Schmid factor evolution.
4.3. Grain size effect on the deformation and fracture mechanism
According to previous sections, we could know that the mechanical
properties, including flow stress, yield stress, ultimate tensile stress and
reduction of cross section decrease with the increased average grain size
of the specimens, along with different morphologies evolution indicate
that the grain size of the specimens influence the plastic deformation
behavior. Besides, the different fractographies shows the influence of
grain size on fracture mechanism. However, focusing on the micro­
structure evolution and coordinated deformation of adjacent individual
grains, the specimens with different average grain sizes show similar
behavior. It could be assumed that it is the co-acting of all the grains the
specimen contains that lead to the differences. It is important to discuss
the grain size effect on the deformation and fracture mechanism of the
Inconel718 superalloy during deformation.
In many previous studies, the interactive effect of grain sizes and
specimen was quantified with the ratio [20,22,40]:
11
Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361
Specimen thickness(t)
N= (1)
Grain size(d)
In this current study, as the thickness of specimens are similar, the N
of different specimens decrease with increasing average grain sizes. The
N of FG and CG specimens are 101 and 20. According to Keller et al.
[41], when N is larger than 4, the mechanical properties depend only on
the grain size. The Hall-Petch relation was widely used to describe the
grain boundary strengthening mechanism [42,43], σhp (ε) and k(ε) are
constants:
σ (ε, d) = σhp (ε) + k(ε)d− 1/2
(2)
As obstcle of deformation, the fraction of grain boundaries decreases
with increasing grain size, so that the specimens with larger average
grain size have lower YS, UTS and less obvious strain hardening phe­
nomenon.According to the H–P relation, with increasing grain size, the
W. Gao et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361

Fig. 13. (a, b) GND density maps of FG/CG samples subjected to different stress levels, (c) GND density evolution of individual grains 1, 3 and 4, (d) variation of
average GND density.

Fig. 14. Surface models of FG and CG specimens.

decrease of strenghten effect that leads to the decrease of the flow stress
[20]. Besides grain boundary strengthening mechanism, dislocations
strengthening can also play an important role and be expressed by the
Bailey-Hirsh relation [44]:
Δσb = BMbGρ1∕2
where B is a coefficient of proportionality, ρ is dislocation density
including GNDs and statistically stored dislocations, G is shear modulus
and b is Burgers vector. In this current study, the FG specimens have
much larger GND density than CG spaciemns, leading to the better
mechanical properties of FG specimens because of dislocations
strengthening. Moreover, according to the surface grain weaken model
[19], with N decreased, the fraction of grains at the surface of the
specimen increased, as Fig. 14 shown. As the surface grains have less
limitation to deformation through slip or rotation [20,45], which is
different from the inner grains, the surface grains have less flow stress as
illustrated by Miyazaki et al. [46]. Thus the fraction of surface grains
increases with increasing grain sizes could be attributed as the reason of
the specimens with larger average grain size have lower flow stress.
For the differences of the fractographies, the specimens with larger
average grain size contain less fraction of grains and boundaries. The
less grains make it more difficult for coordinated deformation. For one
aspect, less soft-oriented grains in favorable orientation make it more
(3)
difficult to release stress through slipping; for the other aspect, as dis­
cussed in section 4.1 and previous study [47], soft-oriented grains
adjacent to hard-oriented grains need to rotate coordinately to maintain
the continuity, additionally as Zheng et al. [48] stated, the fine grains
are easier to rotate than coarse grain, so the CG sample contains less
grains is more difficult to deform coordinately. And because of the grains
are constrained, multi-slip is easier to be activated to release stress and
deformation is more inhomogeneous. Compared with CG specimens, less
multiple slip systems are activated in FG specimens because of more
uniform deformation. According to research of Shang et al. [26], shear
stress concentrates at some parts of the boundaries, in these regions
dimples and micro-voids tends to coalesce to form bigger voids rather
than to generating new small voids. That’s why the voids of the spec­
imen with large average grain size have less fraction and larger size.

12
W. Gao et al.
Fig. 15. Schematic illustrating the deformation and fracture mechanism of FG and CG specimens.
The plastic deformation and fracture mechanisms of specimens with
fine-grains and coarse-grains are illustrated in Fig. 15. For the specimen
contains fine-grains, since the FG specimen contains more grains and
grain boundaries, plastic deformation can proceed more uniformly in
the grains. Dislocations moving to grain boundaries will be hindered by
the grain boundaries to form dislocation plugging and cause concen­
tration of stress, voids are formed inside grains and at grain boundaries
during the deformation process, and the voids are connected to each
other to form small cracks as the plastic deformation progresses. In the
end, the long cracks caused by the cracking of carbides and other in­
clusions connect each other and the cracks formed by the voids in the
grains, resulting in the final failure of the sample. For the specimen
contains coarse-grains, since the fraction of grains and boundaries is
less, it is more difficult for coordinated deformation. The plastic defor­
mation depends on individual grains and the surface roughening and
inhomogeneous of deformation is more obvious. The dimples and micro-
voids in the regions with stress concentration tends to coalesce to form
bigger voids, the connection of these big voids and the voids caused by
inclusions cracked results in the eventually fracture.
5. Conclusion
In this study, the flow stress, strain localization, plastic deformation
and fracture mechanisms of Inconel718 specimens with various average
grain sizes have been investigated. And the main conclusions could be
drawn as follows.
(1) The grain size has significant influence on the mechanical prop­
erties. The YS, UTS and reduction of cross section decrease with
increasing average grain size. The plastic deformation of CG
specimens is more uneven than FG specimens, which is consistent
with the more uneven surface morphology of CG specimens. The
necking behavior of FG specimens is more obvious than FG
specimens.
(2) The polycrystal Inconel718 specimen deformed coordinately
through activation of slip system and grain rotation. The rotation
paths of individual grains are different, some follow the classical
modes while the others deviated from <− 112> stable position.
Misorientation tends to accumulated near twin boundaries and
trigeminal grain boundaries. The specimen with large average
grain size contains less grains and the coordinated deformation
13
Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361
becomes more difficult, which lead to the activation of multiple
slip systems and stress concentration.
(3) GND density relates to grain size, the specimen with larger
average grain size has less GND density. Grain orientation also
plays a role in controlling GND density distribution. In soft grain,
GNDs tend to accumulated near grain boundaries; in hard grain,
GNDs tend to stay inside grain; for grain with“medium-orienta­
tion”, GNDs distribution depends on the sub area with orientation
rotation.
(4) Voids play an important role in the fracture. Crack of inclusions
causes large voids. For specimens contain fine-grains, large
number of small voids initiate at grain boundaries and inside
grains, the connection of the small voids and large voids leads to
fracture. For specimens contain coarse-grains, small number of
large voids initiate at the regions with stress concentration
induced by heterogenous deformation. The intergranular fracture
and the transgranular fracture jointly control the fracture
behavior of the alloy.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Wenjie Gao: Methodology, Investigation, Software, Writing original
manuscript. Junxia Lu: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization.
Jianli Zhou: Methodology, Software. Ling’en Liu: Methodology, Soft­
ware. Jin Wang: Writing – review & editing. Yuefei Zhang: Project
administration, Supervision, Resources, In-situ equipment. Ze Zhang:
Supervision, Resources, In-situ equipment.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by National Science and Technology Major
Project of China(J2019-III-0008-0051) and Key Project of Beijing
W. Gao et al.
Natural Science Foundation (KZ202110005006) and Basic Science
Center Program for Multiphase Media Evolution in Hypergravity of the
National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 51988101).
References
[1] H.J. Zhang, C. Li, Y.C. Liu, Q.Y. Guo, H.J. Li, Precipitation behavior during high-
temperature isothermal compressive deformation of Inconel 718 alloy, Mater. Sci.
Eng. a-Struct. Mater. Prop. Microstruct. Process. 677 (2016) 515–521.
[2] A. Chamanfar, L. Sarrat, M. Jahazi, M. Asadi, A. Weck, A.K. Koul, Microstructural
characteristics of forged and heat treated Inconel-718 disks, Mater. Des. 52 (2013)
791–800.
[3] M. Dehmas, J. Lacaze, A. Niang, B. Viguier, TEM study of high-temperature
precipitation of delta phase in Inconel 718 alloy, 2011, Adv. Mater. Sci. Eng.
(2011) 9.
[4] D. Hu, Y. Gao, Q. Ma, L. Shang, R. Wang, B. University, Effect of grain size on the
creep-fatigue life of GH720Li superalloy, Rare Met. Mater. Eng. (2018).
[5] P. Zhang, Q. Zhu, G. Chen, H.Y. Qin, C.J. Wang, Grain size based low cycle fatigue
life prediction model for nickel-based superalloy, Trans. Nonferrous Metals Soc.
China 28 (10) (2018) 2102–2106.
[6] Q. Zhu, G. Chen, C.J. Wang, L.K. Cheng, H.Y. Qin, P. Zhang, Microstructure
evolution and mechanical property characterization of a nickel-based superalloy at
the mesoscopic scale, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 47 (2020) 177–189.
[7] M.C. Zhang, C.Y. Liu, S.Y. Wang, Deformation behaviors of non-metallic inclusion
in FGH96 superalloy during different plastic processes, Adv. Mater. Res. 538–541
(2012) 1187–1191.
[8] C. Yong, Influence of inclusion on the stress intensity factors under
thermomechanical loads in a PM superalloy, Appl. Math. Model. 33 (1) (2009)
386–397.
[9] Y. Gao, Y. Ding, J. Chen, J. Xu, X. Wang, Effect of twin boundaries on the
microstructure and mechanical properties of Inconel 625 alloy, Mater. Sci. Eng. A
767.
[10] X. Zhang, J.C. Stinville, T.M. Pollock, F. Dunne, Crystallography and elastic
anisotropy in fatigue crack nucleation at nickel alloy twin boundaries, 81-APM-3,
J. Mech. Phys. Solid. (2021), 104538.
[11] Y. Wang, W.Z. Shao, L. Zhen, B.Y. Zhang, Hot deformation behavior of delta-
processed superalloy 718, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 528 (7–8) (2011) 3218–3227.
[12] A. Lc, A. Hd, L.A. Tian, L. Rui, C.A. Yun, B. Yz, L.A. Yu, Y.D. Fei, Q.E. Yu, F. Sc,
Thermal Deformation Behavior and Microstructure Evolution of GH4169
Superalloy under the Shear-Compression Deformation Conditions, 2021.
[13] L. Lin, T. Huang, Y. Xiong, A. Yang, Z. Zhao, Z. Rong, J. Li, Grain refinement of
superalloy K4169 by addition of refiners: cast structure and refinement
mechanisms, Mater. Sci. Eng., A 394 (1–2) (2005) 1–8.
[14] Y. Xiong, Y.W. Xiu, J. Du, A. Yang, L. Lin, D. Zeng, Grain refinement of superalloy
IN718C by the addition of inoculants, Metall. Mater. Trans. 35 (7) (2004)
2111–2114.
[15] W. Cn, B. Hy, M. Cy, L. Ts, A study of IN-713LC superalloy grain refinement effects
on microstructure and tensile properties, Mater. Chem. Phys. 80 (1) (2003) 89–93.
[16] R. Varvill, Heat exchanger development at reaction engines Ltd, Acta Astronaut. 66
(9–10) (2010) 1468–1474.
[17] R. Zhao, X.J. Li, M. Wan, J.Q. Han, B. Meng, Z.Y. Cai, Fracture behavior of Inconel
718 sheet in thermal-aided deformation considering grain size effect and strain rate
influence, sep, Mater. Des. 130 (2017) 413–425.
[18] Q. Zhu, C. Wang, H. Qin, G. Chen, P. Zhang, Effect of the grain size on the
microtensile deformation and fracture behaviors of a nickel-based superalloy via
EBSD and in-situ synchrotron radiation X-ray tomography, Mater. Char. 156
(2019).
[19] J. Xu, B. Guo, D. Shan, M. Li, Z. Wang, Specimen dimension and grain size effects
on deformation behavior in micro tensile of SUS304 stainless steel foil, Mater.
Trans. 54 (6) (2013) 984–989.
[20] M.W. Fu, W.L. Chan, Geometry and grain size effects on the fracture behavior of
sheet metal in micro-scale plastic deformation, Mater. Des. 32 (10) (2011)
4738–4746.
[21] H.K. Lim, D.H. Kim, Y.L. Ju, W.T. Kim, D.H. Kim, Effect of grain size on the tensile
deformation of wrought Mg–MM–Al–Zn–Sn alloy, Mater. Lett. 62 (15) (2008)
2271–2274.
[22] B.B. Liu, J.Q. Han, R. Zhao, W. Liu, M. Wan, Grain size effect on fracture behavior
of the axis-tensile test of Inconel 718 sheet, High Temp. Mater. Process. 35 (10)
(2016) 989–998.
14
Materials Science & Engineering A 861 (2022) 144361
[23] L.V. Raulea, A.M. Goijaerts, L.E. Govaert, F. Baaijens, Size effects in the processing
of thin metal sheets, J. Mater. Process. Technol. 115 (1) (2001) 44–48.
[24] B. Du, J. Yang, C. Cui, X. Sun, Effects of grain refinement on the microstructure and
tensile behavior of K417G superalloy, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 623 (2015) 59–67.
[25] Z. Wei, L. Zhang, X. Li, Y. Long, X. Qu, Effect of grain size on deformation behavior
of pure rhenium, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 829 (2022).
[26] X. Shang, H. Zhang, Z. Cui, M.W. Fu, J. Shao, A multiscale investigation into the
effect of grain size on void evolution and ductile fracture: experiments and crystal
plasticity modeling, Int. J. Plast. 125 (2020) 133–149.
[27] A. Sz, A. Ag, A. Cz, L.A. Wei, B.J.M.C. Djj, Surface Patterning for Combined Digital
Image Correlation and Electron Backscatter Diffraction In-Situ Deformation
Experiments, 2020, p. 164.
[28] J. Ma, J. Lu, L. Tang, J. Wang, Z. Zhang, A novel instrument for investigating the
dynamic microstructure evolution of high temperature service materials up to
1150 ◦ C in scanning electron microscope, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 91 (4) (2020), 043704.
[29] Lu Junxia, Chang Ling, Wang Jin, Sang Lijun, Wu Shikai, In-situ investigation of
the anisotropic mechanical properties of laser direct metal deposition Ti6Al4V
alloy, Materials Science & Engineering, A. Struct. Mater.: Prop. Misrostruct.
Process. 712 (2018) 199–205.
[30] T.R. Bieler, R. Alizadeh, M. Pena-Ortega, J. Llorca, An analysis of (the lack of) slip
transfer between near-cube oriented grains in pure Al, Int. J. Plast. 118 (2019)
269–290.
[31] L. Margulies, G. Winther, H.F. Poulsen, In situ measurement of grain rotation
during deformation of polycrystals, Science 291 (5512) (2001) 2392–2394.
[32] A. Molinari, S. Ahzi, R.J.M.o.M. Kouddane, in: On the self-consistent modeling of
elastic-plastic behavior of polycrystals, 1997, pp. 43–62, 26(1).
[33] G.I.J.O.i.m. Taylor, Plastic Strain in Metals, 1938.
[34] A. Wz, B. Jl, W.A. Jin, A. Ls, A. Jm, A. Yz, C.J.J.o.A. Zz, Compounds, In-situ EBSD
Study of Deformation Behavior of Inconel 740H Alloy at High-Temperature Tensile
Loading - ScienceDirect, 820.
[35] B. Trsa, B. Jds, B. Csm, C.J.A.M. Jmsa, Strengthening Mechanisms in Directed
Energy Deposited Austenitic Stainless Steel vol. 164, 2019, pp. 728–740.
ScienceDirect.
[36] P. D, J.A. Littlewood, W.J.A. Materialia, Geometrically Necessary Dislocation
Density Distributions in Cyclically Deformed Ti–6Al–4V, 2012.
[37] A. Kundu, D.P.J.M.S. Field, E. A, Influence of Plastic Deformation Heterogeneity on
Development of Geometrically Necessary Dislocation Density in Dual Phase Steel,
2016, pp. 435–443.
[38] A. Sb, L.A. Gang, B. Rd, C. Jj, A. Ts, D. Cd, A.J.I.J.o.P. Mw, The Dislocation
Behaviour and GND Development in a Nickel Based Superalloy during Creep, vol.
118, 2019, pp. 252–268.
[39] S. Birosca, F.D. Gioacchino, S.J.A.m. Stekovic, A Quantitative Approach to Study
the Effect of Local Texture and Heterogeneous Plastic Strain on the Deformation
Micromechanism in RR1000 Nickel-Based Superalloy, 2014.
[40] C. Keller, E. Hug, X. Feaugas, Microstructural size effects on mechanical properties
of high purity nickel, Int. J. Plast. 27 (4) (2011) 635–654.
[41] C. Keller, E. Hug, X.J.I.J.o.P. Feaugas, 4, Microstructural Size Effects on Mechanical
Properties of High Purity Nickel, vol. 27, 2011, pp. 635–654.
[42] S. Sui, H. Tan, J. Chen, C. Zhong, Z. Li, W. Fan, A. Gasser, W.J.A.M. Huang, The
Influence of Laves Phases on the Room Temperature Tensile Properties of Inconel
718 Fabricated by Powder Feeding Laser Additive Manufacturing, 2018.
[43] B.Q. Shi, Y.Q. Cheng, X.L. Shang, H. Yan, R.S. Chen, W.J.M.e. Ke, E. A, JAN.16,
Hall-Petch Relationship, Twinning Responses and Their Dependences on Grain Size
in the Rolled Mg-Zn and Mg-Y Alloys, vol. 743, 2018, pp. 558–566.
[44] K. Ma, H. Wen, H. Tao, T.D. Topping, J.M.J.A.M. Schoenung, 5, Mechanical
Behavior and Strengthening Mechanisms in Ultrafine Grain Precipitation-
Strengthened Aluminum Alloy, vol. 62, 2014, pp. 141–155.
[45] Z.T. Xu, L.F. Peng, M.W. Fu, X.M. Lai, Size effect affected formability of sheet
metals in micro/meso scale plastic deformation: experiment and modeling, Int. J.
Plast. 68 (2015) 34–54.
[46] S. Miyazaki, K. Shibata, H. Fujita, Effect of specimen thickness on mechanical-
properties of polycrystalline aggregates with various grain sizes, Acta Metall. 27
(5) (1979) 855–862.
[47] W.J. Zhang, J.X. Lu, J. Wang, L.J. Sang, J.Y. Ma, Y.F. Zhang, Z. Zhang, In-situ EBSD
study of deformation behavior of Inconel 740H alloy at high-temperature tensile
loading, J. Alloys Compd. 820 (2020).
[48] M. Zheng, C. Li, L. Zhang, X. Zhang, Z. Ye, X. Yang, J. Gu, In-situ investigation of
deformation behavior in additively manufactured FeCoCrNiMn high entropy alloy,
Mater. Sci. Eng. a-Struct. Mater. Prop. Microstruct. Process. 840 (2022).