In this work, the orientation of the β variants within a single parent α grain on the α→β up-transformation induced by electric current pulses in a Cu-Zn alloy was investigated. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was used to determine the relationship between the α phase and the β variants. By EBSD analysis, it was found that crystallographic variant selection was observed not only across those prior α/α grain boundaries, but also within the α grain interior. Results revealed that the orientation relationship between the α phase and the β associated with nucleation from α phase was close to the Kurdjumov-Sachs (K-S) orientation relationship, which better described the orientation relationship for α nucleation within β grains.
Formation of Nanotwins in Cold-Rolled Cu-Zn Alloy by Electric Current Pulses