A comparison of grain size determination by light microscopy and EBSD analysis

Abstract

This study shows that the accuracy of optical microscopy analysis of grain size depends on sample preparation techniques, etching procedures and materials, where the visibility of a boundary is a function of the techniques used, and the microstructure components on or close to the boundary. Optical examination of grain size does not always give the same information achieved by EBSD analysis. Fully automatic measurements of grain size by EBSD provides more accurate measurements than conventional optical imaging methods and yields smaller average grain size because EBSD has an advantage over the optical examination in better imaging smaller grains and its result is not dependent on etching and imaging techniques