Microscopic elastic and plastic inhomogeneous deformations and height changes on the surface of a polycrystalline pure-titanium plate specimen under cyclic tension

A cyclic tensile test was carried out using a plate specimen of commercial pure titanium on a digital holographic microscope stage. Microscopic deformation of the grains was observed, and their height distribution was measured on the specimen surface. Each grain showed nanoscopic movement up and down, as well as reverse movement corresponding to specimen loading and unloading. We suggest that the different grain-specific changes in height were caused by microscopic inhomogeneities in the material, such as differences in the crystal orientation and geometries of both the surface and subsurface grains. Changes in grain height increased with tensile load, and a strong relationship was found between the height changes that occurred under elastic and plastic conditions. This suggests that microscopic plastic deformation is predictable from microscopic elastic deformation. In order to investigate the plastic deformation of grains in more detail, slip-line angles were measured after the tensile test. We found slip lines with similar angles in neighboring grains, suggesting that the plastic deformation of grains was not independent, but rather was related to that of surrounding grains and influenced by the deformation of subsurface grains.