TY - GEN A1 - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - A paradigm shift in the description of creep in metals can only occur through multi-scale imaging N2 - The description of creep in metals has reached a high level of complexity; fine details are revealed by all sorts of characterization techniques and different theoretical models. However, to date virtually no fully microstructure-driven quantitative description of the phenomenon is available. This has brought to interesting inconsistencies; the classic description of (secondary) creep rests on the so-called power law, which however: a- has a pre-factor spanning over 10 orders of magnitude; b- has different reported exponents for the same material; c- has no explanation for the values of such exponents. Recently, a novel description (the so-called Solid State Transformation Creep (SSTC) Model) has been proposed to tackle the problem under a different light. The model has two remarkable features: 1- it describes creep as the accumulation of elementary strains due to dislocation motion; 2- it predicates that creep is proceeding by the evolution of a fractal arrangement of dislocations. Such description, however, needs a great deal of corroborating evidence, and indeed, is still incomplete. To date, we have been able to observe and somehow quantify the fractal arrangement of microstructures through Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), observe the accumulation of dislocations at grain boundaries by EBSD-KAM (Electron Back-Scattered Diffraction-Kernel Angular Misorientation) analysis, quantify the kinetic character (solid state transformation) of experimental creep curves, and estimate the sub-grain size of the fractal microstructure through X-ray refraction techniques. All pieces of the mosaic seem to yield a consistent picture: we seem being on the right path to reconstruct the whole elephant by probing single parts of it. What is still missing is the bond between the various scales of investigation. T2 - Korrelative Materialcharakterisierung 2022 CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 13.10.2022 KW - X-ray refraction KW - EBSD KW - Alloys KW - TEM KW - SEM PY - 2022 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/56163 AN - OPUS4-56163 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany