Sample preparation of a novel titanium-aluminium composite for EBSD analysis

A titanium-aluminium composite (TAC) has been produced using a novel vacuum cast process [1, 2] that has potential in biomedical and industrial plant applications. The overall aims of this investigation are to develop an understanding of the phase transformations and alloy segregation at the interface between the bonded titanium-aluminium composite. With soft alloys, it is important to polish the surface without distortion of the grain shape. Initially, the samples were prepared using standard metallographic techniques, but difficulties preparing the composite material were experienced. A preparation method was developed for the bonded titanium-aluminium composite material that produced damage-free samples. These were characterised using imaging, X-ray mapping (XRM) and Electron Back Scatter Diffraction (EBSD) in a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).