Measurements of strain fields due to nanoscale precipitates using the phase image method

Abstract

Owing the phase image method (Hytch, 1998), strain fields can be derived from HREM images. The method is here applied to the nanoscale precipitates responsible for hardening in Aluminum alloys. Since the method is a very sensitive one, we have examined the impact of several aspects of the image quality (noise, fluctuations, distortion). The strain field information derived from the HREM image analysis is further introduced in a simulation of the dislocation motion in the matrix.