Texture and grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) in rapidly solidified and annealed Fe-6.5mass%Si ribbons

The type and frequency of grain boundaries, the so-called grain boundary character distribution (GBCD), has been determined in rapidly solidified and subsequently annealed Fe-6.5 mass% Si alloy ribbon by the scanning electron microscopy-electron channelling pattern (SEM-ECP) technique. High frequencies of low-angle boundaries and coincidence boundaries with Ʃ3,Ʃ9,Ʃ11,Ʃ17 and Ʃ19 were observed in a fully annealed ribbon with well defined {110} texture. The total frequency of low-angle boundaries and coincidence boundaries is almost one-half of all grain boundaries. The coincidence boundaries which occurred more frequently are exactly those predicted theoretically from the coincidence orientations for <110) rotation in cubic crystals, similar to those observed previously in {100} textured ribbons of the same alloy produced by the same processing method. The presence of a close relationship between the type of texture and GBCD has been confirmed by experiment on differently textured ribbons of the same material.