AZtecCrystal

Collecting good quality data is only the beginning of any complete EBSD analysis. AZtecCrystal provides all the necessary tools to process and interrogate your EBSD data and to solve your materials problems. Seamlessly integrated with AZtecHKL or operated as a standalone program, AZtecCrystal sets the standard in EBSD data processing for experts and novices alike.

Optimised for fast processing and large datasets
Intuitive layout with selectable viewing modes
Full map, texture and boundary display, and analysis
Multiple advanced microstructure interrogation tools
Intelligent data handling with flexible templates

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AZtecCrystal is a comprehensive software package for processing data collected using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). It is designed to have the ease of use necessary for newcomers to the EBSD technique, yet to have the advanced tools required for in-depth materials characterisation required by more experienced operators. Whatever you require from your EBSD data analysis, AZtecCrystal is sure to deliver.

Flexible

Multi-modal display: view the analytical tools necessary to solve every materials problem
Multi-layered map creation and display with no component limits
Ideal for all computers, from laptops to workstations

Fast

Quaternion-based algorithms for fastest data processing
Handles any size dataset from AZtec with ease: even the largest datasets are processed within seconds
Relevant data and settings are stored within each project for fast reloading

Intelligent

Designed around intelligent routines, such as as machine-learning phase classification, "True Length" boundary analysis and rapid parent grain reconstruction
Comprehensive grain size analysis to ASTM standards with over 10 display options
Smart defaults and settings for all materials

Data Management

Utilises new flexible, open HDF5 data format (*.h5oina)
Simple export and launch directly from within AZtec
Varied demonstration datasets, used extensively in the comprehensive Help system
Visual preview of recently loaded datasets
Stores all map, pole figure, ODF, measurement, subset and material settings within each dataset
Advanced, customisable data cleaning, including automated void/crack detection, Kuwahara orientation filtering and pseudosymmetric error removal
High-speed quaternion-based processing optimised for datasets up to 64 million analysis points
Automatic calculation of orientation and phase maps, and grain size upon opening new datasets
Advanced template tools to enable quick customisation of all displays and calculations
Automated processing of datasets using intelligent batch template tool
Flexible image and data export from all displays within AZtecCrystal

User Interface

Intuitive interface with AZtec theming and shared layout concept
Multiple, user-selectable Viewing Modes to access the necessary analysis tools
Separate project tree and settings panels for simple data and tool management
Main workspace panes can be undocked for viewing on multiple monitors
User-selectable zooming for work on different screen resolutions
Multiple language support

Map Display and Analysis

Map display in either tabbed or (linked) tile form
Multiple map interaction mode (including point and grain selection, profile measurement and subset creation)
Compact legend display, exportable with maps
Unlimited, customisable map creation using individual map layers – no limits to the number of layers in any map
Multiple map layers, each fully customisable, including:
- - Pattern quality and misfit
  - SEM image colours and values
  - Orientation colouring
  - Texture components
  - Strain and deformation (including GND density, Kernel Average Misorientation)
  - EDS element distribution
  - Grain size, shape, and internal orientation distribution
  - Grain / subgrain / phase boundaries
  - Special boundaries (including twins and coincident site lattice boundaries)
  - Orientation and lattice relationships
Separate display of all individual map values and distributions
Misorientation profile analysis tool, with variable width and multiple component display

Texture Analysis

Full, customisable pole figure (PF) display
Full, customisable inverse pole figure (IPF) display
Full orientation distribution function (ODF) analysis
User-defined settings, including ODF calculation and display, density contouring, projection selection etc.
Pole plot calculation and display
Applied sample symmetry option
Data rotation to correct for sample mounting errors

Grain Size Analysis

User-defined grain size measurement
High-speed algorithms – 20,000 grains measured in < 15s
Multiple grain model displays
Grain size histogram display with arithmetic and area-weighted statistics
Grain size number given to ASTM E2627 standard
Filtered grain size list for advanced data subsetting
Twinned grain statistical analysis
Parameter correlation tool to identify relationships between grain-based measurements

Advanced Tools

Full Boundary Analysis – complete characterisation of boundary populations within a dataset
- - Overall boundary statistics including grain, phase, CSL, and special boundaries
  - Intelligent "True Length" algorithm to compensate for boundary orientation bias
  - Boundary disorientation analysis with congruence statistics
  - M-index of texture strength
  - Disorientation Distribution Function Analysis, providing a characteristic domain size for every dataset - ideal for parent grain size measurements
  - Plotting of boundary rotation axes in sample or crystallographic coordinate
Classify Tool – an advanced, machine-learning tool for partitioning data into similar classes:
- - Utilises multiple map parameters simultaneously
  - System learns via user-driven training
  - Ideal for discriminating between regions that cannot be separated using crystallography alone (e.g. ferrite, bainite and martensite or deformed and recrystallised fractions)
  - Classes can be converted into subsets for further analysis
  - Classification recipes can be stored in templates
Materials Properties – calculation and display of elastic properties of grains based on orientation information:
- - User-editable elastic coefficients database including common materials
  - Rapid calculation of 5 elastic properties (including Young’s modulus and shear modulus)
  - Map display to show spatial variation
  - Pole figure display for Young’s Modulus and Linear Compressibility to show variations with different loading directions
  - Bulk averages (Voigt, Reuss, Hill, and Geometric)
Parent Grain Analysis – reconstruct parent microstructures prior to displacive phase transformations:
- - Developed to work with all materials. Including steels and Ti/Nb/Zr alloys
  - User-defined orientation relationship library with multiple standard entries
  - Orientation relationship refinement using user-defined training areas
  - Rapid reconstruction and display with excellent results
  - Reconstructed datasets saved as new projects for extensive interrogation and analysis
  - Capable of reconstructing large-scale parent microstructures (e.g. 1000s parent grains)
SEM Image Viewer – display of electron images with post-acquisition drift / distortion correction
- - Selection and display of any electron image from the same AZtec site of interest (e.g. forescatter, BSE or SE images)
  - EBSD map overlay with adjustable transparency
  - Comprehensive distortion correction to correct of drift during EBSD mapping:
  - Simple mode to correct for constant drift or distortion
  - Extended mode using co-localisation of features in the electron image and EBSD map
  - Correct EBSD data can be saved as a new dataset for subsequent analysis

Data Subsetting

Core functionality in AZtecCrystal enabling detailed interrogation of data
Subsets defined in multiple ways:
- - Directly from maps
  - Directly from ODFs and pole/inverse pole figures
  - Directly from filtered grain lists
  - Directly from any parameter range (e.g pattern quality, X-ray counts, Schmid factor, etc.)
Flexible subset manipulation tools (morphological / combination / phase)
Subsets can be used to create new datasets

Strain at crack tips in duplex steel

Grain orientations in deformed quartz

Subgrains in a deformed olivine grain

Complex alpha-Ti grain structure in a Ti64 alloy

Structures in a calcite-aragonite mollusc shell

Orientation map of a nanocrystalline shear band in an Al alloy

Grain size map of a chondrule in a carbonaceous chondritic meteorite

Pattern quality map highlighting MnS stringers in a martensitic steel

Strain around a crack in a Ni alloy. Sample from The Henry Royce Institute, Manchester

Low angle disorientation rotation axes in olivine

ODF showing alpha and gamma fibre textures in a ferritic steel

Pole figures showing strong CPO in deformed plagioclase feldspar

The Latest Developments in EBSD Software

We discuss the developments to our EBSD acquisition and data processing including a new guided workflow in AZtecHKL to assist with setting up and running Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction experiments and a versatile new Parent Grain Analysis viewing mode within AZtecCrystal that enables rapid reconstruction of parent microstructures.

Approx View time: 7 minutes

AZtecCrystal Demonstration

Watch our latest interactive demonstration of AZtecCrystal in order to understand the speed, flexibility, and intelligence of the most modern EBSD data processing software on the market today!

Tutorial: Effective EBSD data processing using AZtecCrystalAZtecCrystal Demonstration

This tutorial will cover fundamental steps of data processing such as data cleaning and grain size measurement, as well as touching on more advanced analytical tools such as parent grain reconstruction and the calculation of elastic properties.

Approx View time: 26 minutes

Applications

AZtecCrystal enables fast, high-throughput analyses of any EBSD dataset. Optimised for speed yet designed for ease-of-use, AZtecCrystal delivers the versatility of the EBSD technique for all levels of user expertise. The primary fields of application are as follows, but AZtecCrystal is ideally suited for any application of the EBSD technique:

Metals processing – e.g. grain size and texture, parent grain reconstruction
Aerospace- e.g. crack propagation
Microelectronics -e.g. texture and boundary characterisation
Surface coatings – e.g. phase analysis and layer structure
Structural geology – e.g. intragranular deformation and crystallographic preferred orientations
Additive manufacturing – e.g. grain structure and strain distribution, parent grain reconstruction

Failure analysis in steels and superalloys

Understanding the propagation of cracks through materials is key to designing materials that are less likely to fail
AZtecCrystal provides multiple tools that enable researchers to study the build up of plastic strain at crack tips and to investigate the relationship between grain structure, orientation and crack propagation

Determining prior austenite grain size in steels

In many materials, such as martensitic steels and Ti alloys, understanding the parent grain microstructure is important as it has a strong influence on the final grain size and hence the resulting material strength
AZtecCrystal incorporates a comprehensive parent grain analysis tool that reconstructs the parent microstructure based on orientation relationships, enabling full analyses of the grain size, boundary characteristics and texture of the prior austenitic microstructure

Measuring texture in rolled steels

Texture – the preferred crystallographic orientation of grains – controls many key materials properties and is a critical measurement in most processed metals, such as rolled steel
AZtecCrystal offers all the necessary tools for measuring and assessing texture in materials – orientation distribution functions (ODFs), pole and inverse pole figures, customisable texture component maps and numerous ways to determine texture fractions

Understanding deformation processes in rocks

Understanding the response of rocks to stress and strain as well as to variations in temperature and pressure is essential for an understanding of the processes that control plate tectonics, cause earthquakes and result in ore mineral emplacement
AZtecCrystal delivers rapid results highlighting deformation processes either in map form or via more advanced approaches such as boundary disorientation analysis

Elastic properties of additively manufactured Ti alloys

AZtecCrystal has a Materials Properties viewing mode that can calculate the elastic properties of materials based on each grain’s orientation
This allows researchers to instantly convert raw EBSD data into information about the key physical properties of materials, such as the relationship between build direction and yield strength in 3D printed Ti64 alloys

Grain boundary engineering of electronic components

The electrical performance of components is closely linked to the distribution and nature of crystallographic boundaries between and within grains – controlling this is known as grain boundary engineering
AZtecCrystal enables rapid characterisation of boundary populations, determining the proportion of special boundaries (such as coincident site lattice boundaries) and true determination of grain sizes on the nanometre to micrometre scale