INVESTIGATION OF ACTIVE SLIP SYSTEMS IN HIGH PURITY SINGLE CRYSTAL NIOBIUMByDerek Baars The superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) community uses high purity niobium to manufacture SRF cavities for a variety of accelerator applications. Cavities are either made from large-grain sheets cut directly from the ingot and formed, or the ingot microstructure is broken down to form polycrystalline sheets or tubes. Reducing the number of costly electron beam welds to assemble the cavities is also desired. A greater understanding of the active slip systems and their relation to subsequent dislocation substructure would be of use in all these areas, to better understand how large grain niobium deforms and to develop more accurate computational models that will aid in the design and use of more cost-effective forming methods. Studies of slip in high-purity niobium suggest that temperature, material purity, and crystal orientation affect which slip systems are active during deformation, though have not examined the somewhat lesser purity niobium used for SRF cavities. As a step toward these goals, two sets of SRF-purity single crystal niobium samples were deformed to 40% strain in tension at room temperature. The first set was cut and welded back together. The second set consisted of deliberately orientated samples that resolved shear stress onto desired slip systems to evaluate different combinations of slip. Determining likely active slip systems was complex, though the evidence suggests that {112} slip may be dominant at yield at room temperature as suggested by theory, though {110} slip could not be ruled out.
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