Study on microtexture of laser welded 5A90 aluminium–lithium alloys using electron backscattered diffraction

The microtexture features of Nd:YAG laser welded joints in 5A90 aluminium–lithium (Al–Li) alloys were examined using electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD). Microtexture was determined by means of the grain orientation image maps (OIM), pole figures (PF), misorientation angles and orientation distribution function (ODF) of the weld metal (WM), heat affected zone (HAZ) and unaffected base metal (BM) of the welded joint. The results show that there is a change of microtexture in the WM and HAZ of the welded joint in terms of the component and intensity of the texture. The HAZ of the welded joint inherits the texture characteristics of the BM, whereas the welding heat input has an important influence on the component C {112}<111>. The WM of the welded joint is composed of predominantly equiaxed grains with a random microtexture.