The microstructure evolution of a typical nickel-based superalloy was studied in the strain range of 0.1–0.9 at 1110 °C/0.01 s−1 by using the electron backscattered diffraction technique. It was found that the evolution of recrystallized microstructures, grain boundary characteristics, and textures was closely related to strain level. With the increasing strain level, the fraction of equiaxed dynamic recrystallization (DRX) grains increased significantly at the expense of the large non-recrystallized grains, and there was a decrease in total low angle grain boundaries fraction and a simultaneous increase in the fraction of high angle grain boundaries. In addition, the occurrence of DRX promoted the formation of Σ3 boundaries, and the coherent Σ3 boundaries were much easier to form at the strain above 0.5. On the other hand, 〈100〉 component of the textures became stronger with the increasing strains, and the lack of 〈111〉 orientations can also be observed in the textures at high strains above 0.7.

The microstructure evolution of a typical nickel-based superalloy was studied in the temperature range of 960–1160 °C with the strain rate of 0.001 s−1 by using electron backscattered diffraction technique. Based on the grain orientation spread method, the dynamic recrystallization (DRX) grains were distinguished from the deformed grains. The results revealed that the volume fraction and the size of DRX grains increased with the increasing deformation temperatures. Most of the original Σ3 boundaries lost their twin characteristics due to crystal rotations during hot deformation. Meanwhile, lots of new Σ3 boundaries were formed in the DRX grains mainly by growth accidents. Moreover, the deformation temperature had a similar effect on the fraction of Σ3 boundary and the Σ3 boundary density in the DRX domains, which increased firstly and then decreased with the increasing deformation temperature. The Σ3 boundary density was analyzed as a function of grain size, and the critical grain size below which no twin forms was calculated to be 2.06 µm. In addition, the coherent Σ3 boundaries were easier to form at the higher deformation temperature due to their lower boundary energy.

This study investigates the effects of the charge-state ratio of evaporated ions on the accuracy of local-electrode atom-probe (LEAP) tomographic compositional and structural analyses, which employs a picosecond ultraviolet pulsed laser. Experimental results demonstrate that the charge-state ratio is a better indicator of the best atom-probe tomography (APT) experimental conditions compared with laser pulse energy. The thermal tails in the mass spectra decrease significantly, and the mass resolving power (m/Δm) increases by 87.5 and 185.7% at full-width half-maximum and full-width tenth-maximum, respectively, as the laser pulse energy is increased from 5 to 30 pJ/pulse. The measured composition of this alloy depends on the charge-state ratio of the evaporated ions, and the most accurate composition is obtained when Ni2+/Ni+ is in the range of 0.3–20. The γ(f.c.c.)/γ'(L12) interface is quantitatively more diffuse when determined from the measured concentration profiles for higher laser pulse energies. Conclusions of the APT compositional and structural analyses utilizing the same suitable charge-state ratio are more comparable than those collected with the same laser pulse energy.