Physical Versus Mathematical Aspects in Texture Analysis

Texture deals with the orientational aspects of the crystal lattice in polycrystalline aggregates. This comprises the classical orientation distribution function ODF as well as higher-order textural quantities. The quantitative treatment of these quantities requires a good deal of mathematical methods. This concerns particularly the representation of orientation data including all kinds of symmetries, the transformation of experimentally measured raw data into the required distribution functions, as well as mathematical models of texture formation by physical processes and of the texture-property relationship.