Materials Characterization 189 (2022) 111940

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Materials Characterization
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matchar

Strain localization in titanium investigated via in situ digital image

correlation with multiscale speckles
X.H. Gong a, Z.D. Feng b, D. Fan b, L. Lu a, *, S.N. Luo a
a
Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan, PR China
b
The Peac Institute of Multiscale Sciences, Chengdu, Sichuan, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Strain localization in commercially pure titanium under uniaxial tension is investigated with in situ digital image
Strain localization correlation (DIC) at different length scales. Speckles in three different sizes are prepared on the surface of ti­
Digital image correlation tanium specimens, referred to as microscale, mesoscale and macroscale speckles. The microscale and mesoscale
Multiscale
speckles for scanning electron microscopy DIC analysis are fabricated by different electro-polishing procedures,
EBSD
Titanium
and spray painting is used to prepare the macroscale speckles for the optical DIC measurement. Electron back
scattering diffraction (EBSD) characterization is conducted for the microscale speckle case. The strain fields
obtained at different length scales combined with the microscale EBSD examination establish the relationship
between microscale strain localization and macroscale strain concentration bands. Strain localization tends to
form at grain boundaries and inside deformation twins, especially at the large-angle grain boundaries, and the
amplitude and rate of strain accumulation at grain boundaries are higher than inside deformation twins. The
microscale strain-localized regions dispersed at grain boundaries and within deformation twins present them­
selves as the strain concentration bands observed with the macroscale speckles, and both the strain localization
regions and strain concentration bands are at ±45∘ with the tensile direction.

1. Introduction deformation measurement method, which can obtain displacement and

Strain localization occurs across a wide variety of materials, loading
conditions and application scenarios, and usually plays a decisive role in
mechanical behavior, thereby influencing the suitability of a given
material for the intended structural application [1]. Many investigations
over different length scales ranging from the microscale to the macro­
scale have been conducted to identify early precursors of strain locali­
zation and establish their relation with larger-scale material failure
[2–4]. Although damage can occur in the sample interior, surface
deformation analysis can still serve as an efficient means to help build
the link between strain localization and fracture in a specimen under
cyclic or sustained loading, and is commonly used for thin specimens
under tension. Strain field measurements over different length scales
ranging from the microscale to the macroscale is conducive to under­
stand the microstructural origin of strain localization, predict material
failure on the macroscale, and promote structure development for
fracture resistance in particular for the cases where damage nucleates on
a surface.
Digital image correlation (DIC) technique [5–8] is a contactless
strain by correlation between digital images of the undeformed and
deformed configurations. The DIC method was widely used to investi­
gate the strain localization in metallic materials such as steel [9–11],
nickel-based superalloy [12,13], aluminum [14], magnesium [15–20],
zirconium [21] and titanium [22–29]. Such technique provides more
information to better understand deformation, and it is important to
choose appropriate speckle size and DIC parameters to match the spatial
scale corresponding to a specific deformation mechanism.
Titanium and its alloy have attracted increasing attention in
biomedical, aircraft and automobile applications due to their remark­
able combination of low density, high biocompatibility, high toughness,
excellent heat resistance and corrosion resistance [30–34]. With a hex­
agonal close-packed (HCP) crystal structure at room temperature, the
plastic deformation of titanium is accommodated by both dislocation
slip and deformation twinning [35–37]. Such a deformation feature
gives rise to more complex strain localization than those of conventional
metals with a cubic crystal structure [38,39]. For instance, strain
localization occurs preferentially at both grain boundaries and twin
boundaries in magnesium with an HCP structure, as demonstrated by

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: llu@swjtu.edu.cn (L. Lu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchar.2022.111940
Received 27 December 2021; Received in revised form 3 April 2022; Accepted 1 May 2022
Available online 10 May 2022
1044-5803/© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
X.H. Gong et al.
the DIC analysis from micrographs obtained with scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) mea­
surements [40]. The localized plastic strain in pre-twinned commer­
cially pure titanium (CP-Ti) during detwinning deformation tends to
accumulate around the {1012} extension twins [41]. Nevertheless, the
effects of deformation twins and grain boundaries on strain localization
in CP-Ti during tension are rarely studied. Furthermore, ex situ optical
DIC measurements with different magnifications ranging from 3.2× to
50×, were conducted to characterize the spatial distribution of residual
deformation in titanium; the strain fields at the highest optical magni­
fication revealed deformation patterns that are not detectable at lower
magnifications, and the length estimation of a representative volume
element based on the standard deviation of the average residual strain
with different optical magnification presents a clear difference [42].
However, in situ and finer-scale DIC measurements are still lacking on
CP-Ti.
In this work, the electro-polishing and spray painting methods are
used to prepare speckles of three different characteristic sizes on the
surface of a CP-Ti sample. The strain fields at different length scales are
obtained via in situ SEM DIC and optical DIC measurements on the CP-Ti
specimens with different-sized speckles. EBSD characterization is per­
formed to reveal microstructure evolution. Such examinations realize in
situ investigation of strain localization over a wide range of length scales.
The microscale strain-localized regions are dispersed at grain bound­
aries and within deformation twins, forming the strain concentration
bands on the macroscale.
2. Materials and experiments
The CP-Ti studied here has a nominal chemical composition (wt%) of
Fe 0.15, O 0.15, Si 0.10, C 0.03, N 0.02, H 0.02, and Ti balance. Fig. 1
shows the microstructure characterization of the as-received CP-Ti. As
revealed by the EBSD analysis, the CP-Ti is equiaxed with an average
grain size of ~40 μm. The CP-Ti has a basal transverse texture, and the
deviation of the average grain orientation from ND is about 40 degrees.
Dog-bone shaped specimens are harvested form the CP-Ti plate. The
gauge dimensions are 4 mm long, 2 mm wide, and 0.4 mm thick. The
electro-polishing and spray painting methods are used to prepare
speckles with different speckle sizes on the surfaces of three different
dog-bone shaped specimens. Three different speckle sizes are fabricated
on three CP-Ti specimens. Then the specimens are subjected to in situ
tensile loading along with SEM/optical imaging.
Fig. 2a presents the electro-polishing method for preparing SEM
speckles. A dog-bone shaped specimen is first ground and mechanically
polished. Then the polished specimen is immersed in a solution of 10 vol
% perchloric acid and 90 vol% methanol for electropolishing, and a
magnetic stirrer is placed in the solution to mix the solution evenly. The
(a) (b) {0002}
RD
TD RD
0001
--
2110
50 μm
-
1010
Fig. 1. EBSD characterization of the CP-Ti. (a) Inverse pole figure map. (b) Pole
figures. RD: rolling direction; TD: transverse direction; ND: normal direction.
Materials Characterization 189 (2022) 111940
CP-Ti specimen and a copper rod are used as electrodes. The electro-
polishing voltage and current are controlled by a direct-current power
supply, and liquid nitrogen is used to cool the mixed solution. In order to
obtain micron-scale speckles for DIC analysis at the microscale (high-
magnification SEM-DIC) and reduce the interference with EBSD char­
acterization, the electro-polishing voltage, temperature and duration are
set to 30 V, − 30∘C, and 40 s, respectively. Furthermore, the electro-
polishing temperature and duration are adjusted to − 20∘C and 60 s,
respectively, to acquire larger speckles for DIC analysis at the mesoscale
(low-magnification SEM-DIC) with an electro-polishing voltage of 30 V.
The electro-polished CP-Ti specimen is gripped on a homemade
miniature tensile device placed inside the chamber of a Thermo Fisher
Scientific Quanta 250 SEM, as illustrated in Fig. 2b. The dog-bone sha­
ped CP-Ti specimen is tilted by 70∘ with the horizontal plane for the
EBSD examination. The incident electron beam irradiates the CP-Ti
specimen, and excites secondary and backscattered electrons used for
SEM imaging and EBSD measurements, respectively. The miniature
tensile device is equipped with a load cell to obtain stress− strain curves.
The bulk strain is calculated by measuring the axial displacement
generated by the stepper motor, and corrected by the rigid deformation
of the miniature tensile device. The strain rate is roughly 10− 3 s− 1,
controlled by the speed of stepper motor. The CP-Ti specimen is suc­
cessively subjected to uniaxial tension to bulk strains of 0.03, 0.06, 0.09,
and 0.12. When the specimen deforms at one of the above strains, both
the SEM imaging and EBSD examinations are performed with the
loading. The time to acquire SEM and EBSD images is 10 s and 20 min,
respectively. The SEM accelerating voltage and working distance are 20
keV and 15 mm, respectively, and the scanning step size for the EBSD
scan is 1 μm.
For even larger speckles, spray painting instead of electro-polishing
is applied, since higher electro-polishing temperature/longer duration
damage the specimen surfaces. As displayed in Fig. 3a, a thin layer of
black paint is first spread on the whole surface of a precision-polished
specimen. By spraying white paint at a distance, tiny white paint
droplets attach to the specimen surface, forming speckles for optical
DIC. Then the speckled CP-Ti sample is subjected to tensile loading with
a material testing system and illuminated by a light source, and the
deformation is recorded by a charge-coupled device camera. The im­
aging exposure time is 1 ms, and the frame interval is 5 s. The corre­
sponding strain rate is 10− 3 s− 1.
3. Results and discussions
SEM micrographs and optical images of the CP-Ti specimens after
electro-polishing and spray painting together with the histograms of
pixel intensity are presented in Fig. 4. Both SEM and optical imaging
regions are located in the middle of the specimen gauge section, so the
deformation histories described by different speckles are the same. The
field of view increases with the decrease of imaging magnification. A
large number of artificial speckles distribute randomly in all the three
images with different speckle size scales. The average speckle sizes for
the low- and high-temperature electro-polishing and spray painting are
approximately 1.0 μm, 5.4 μm and 57.9 μm, referred to as the micro­
TD
scale, mesoscale and macroscale speckles. According to the pixel in­
tensity histograms, the ranges of grayscale values for all three images are
large, and the microscale and mesoscale speckles exhibit a better quality
-
{1120} than the macroscale speckles due to the considerably higher
homogeneity.
In order to evaluate the overall quality of microscale, mesoscale and
TD macroscale speckles, we introduce the mean intensity gradient [43] of a
speckle pattern, defined as
9
H ⃒
⃒ ( )⃒
∑W ∑
∇g xi , yj ⃒
(1)
0
δg = .
i=1 j=1
WH
Here W and H are the width and height (in unit of pixels) of the
2
X.H. Gong et al.
(a)
Thermometer
V
Copper Sample + A
Stir bar Power supply
Magnetic stirrer
Fig. 2. (a) Illustration of speckle preparation via electro-polishing. (b) Schematic of in situ tensile test together with SEM and EBSD measurements.
(a)
Spray black paint Spray white paint
Fig. 3. (a) Illustration of speckle preparation via spray painting. (b) Schematic of in situ tensile test along with optical imaging.
region of interest in an image, respectively. x and y are coordinates. g is
( ) [ ( ) ]12
the pixel intensity function. ∣∇g xi , yj ∣ = gx2 xi , yj + gy2 (xi , yj ) is the
modulus of the intensity gradient at pixel (xi, yj), and gx(xi, yj) and gy(xi,
yj) are the x- and y-components of the intensity gradient at coordinate
(xi, yj), respectively. The mean intensity gradients for the microscale,
mesoscale and macroscale speckles are 28.1, 32.7 and 11.3, respectively.
A larger mean intensity gradient indicates a higher correlation coeffi­
cient of speckles between two images, i.e., better speckle quality. The
mean intensity gradient values of the microscale and mesoscale speckles
are much higher, consistent with the histograms of pixel intensity. Fig. 5
shows the tensile stress− strain curve of the CP-Ti specimen. The tensile
strain rate is about 10− 3 s− 1. Upon yield, the CP-Ti specimen undergoes
a short period of strain hardening, and then the flow stress gradually
decreases until the specimen fails. The yield stress and tensile strength
are 275 MPa and 332 MPa, respectively. Four states on the stress− strain
curve are selected for the SEM, EBSD and imaging measurements (the
squares), representing the undeformed, strain hardening, maximum
tensile stress and strain softening stages. For the microscale speckle case,
stress relaxation is observed during EBSD measurement.
The tension-induced microstructure evolution of the CP-Ti is pre­
sented in Fig. 6, and the corresponding undeformed microstructure is
displayed Fig. 1. The {1012} extension twinning dominates the plastic
deformation. At a strain of 0.03, a few {1122} extension twins and more
{1012} extension twins are observed. As the tension progresses, both the
number and the area of the {1012} extension twins increases signifi­
cantly, while the {1122} extension twins only widen slightly. Such
differences are attributed to a lower critical resolved shear stresses for
activating the {1012} twin than the {1122} twin.
Materials Characterization 189 (2022) 111940
(b)
Electron beam
Load cell
Secondary
- electron
detector
MTS
Timer EBSD
detector
(b)
Light
Sample
CCD camera
Tensile loading
In addition to the EBSD characterization, SEM secondary electron
imaging and optical imaging are used to record the deformation of CP-Ti
specimen and map strain fields by performing the DIC analysis. By
calculating the correlation coefficients of two images before and after
tensile deformation, the randomly distributed speckles are “tracked,”
and the displacement (u) field is obtained, from which the Euler-Almansi
strain (eij) is calculated as
1( )
eij = ui,j + uj,i − uk,i uk,j , (2)
2
where i, j, k = x, y.
For DIC analysis, the uncertainties in strain for the microscale,
mesoscale and macroscale speckles are analyzed at different subset radii
[44,45]. DIC analysis is performed on two undeformed images with
different subset radii (10, 15, ⋯, 60 pixels), yielding the Euler-Almansi
strain fields, from which the average strain components are obtained.
The average values and standard deviations of the Euler-Almansi strain
for the microscale, mesoscale and macroscale speckles are obtained as a
function of subset radius (Fig. 7). The step size of grid is 1 pixel, and the
subset overlap for different subset radii is over 90%. At a given subset
radius, the average strain increases as the speckle size increases, and the
standard deviations for the micro- and mesoscale speckles are similar
but considerably lower than for the macroscale speckles in particular at
small subset radii. With the increase of subset radius, the average strain
and standard deviation all decrease, and the differences among the three
speckle types become smaller. For a subset radius of 45 pixels, both the
average strain and the standard deviation for microscale, mesoscale and
macroscale speckles are similar. Therefore, a subset radius of 45 pixels is
selected for the DIC analysis.
By performing DIC analysis of the microscale, mesoscale and
3
X.H. Gong et al.
Fig. 4. Comparison of speckles prepared via electropolishing (the top and middle rows) and spray painting (the bottom row). Left column: (a) and (d) SEM mi­
crographs with magnifications of 1000× and 200×, respectively, (g) optical image with a magnifications of 10×. Middle column: histograms of pixel intensity. Right
column: speckle size (equivalent diameter) distribution and cumulative counts.
Fig. 5. Stress–strain curve for the CP-Ti specimen. Squares: the states for the
SEM, EBSD and optical imaging measurements.
macroscale speckles, the evolution of the Euler-Almansi strain fields at
different length scales for the CP-Ti is shown in Fig. 8. For the high-
magnification SEM-DIC case, DIC analysis can realize strain field map­
ping with the SEM micrographs, and the SEM and EBSD images are
measured in the same region. Therefore, the spatial correlation between
EBSD and DIC information is established, and the grain boundaries are
4
Materials Characterization 189 (2022) 111940
overlaid on the strain fields. For the microscale speckles, (Fig. 8a–8c),
the grain boundaries are overlaid on the strain field maps. At a bulk
strain of 0.03, significant strain concentration can be observed, and the
regions with high strain values are mainly located near the general grain
boundaries and inside the deformation twins. The high strains close to
grain boundaries were observed previously, and attributed to intense
local slip activity, grain boundary sliding or kink bands formation [24].
Moreover, moderate strain concentration also appears in the interiors of
some grains, and exhibits the characteristics of strain infiltration from
grain boundary to grain interior. The activation of the pyramidal 〈a〉 slip
systems in polycrystalline aggregates occurs primarily due to the large
stresses generated in grain-boundary regions because of the misorien­
tation between neighboring grains [46]. The strain fields and corre­
sponding Schmid factor mapping for the {1011}〈1120〉 pyramidal 〈a〉
slip are presented in Fig. 9a and b. The Schmid factors of the grains with
high intracrystalline strain are larger than those of the grains with low
intracrystalline strain. In other words, the strain localization within
grains may be related to the {1011}〈1120〉 pyramidal 〈a〉 slip. As the
tensile strain increases, strain accumulates in the regions where strain
concentration occurs in the early deformation stage, and the accumu­
lation rate inside deformation twins is lower than the rate nearby the
general grain boundaries. Strain concentration is nearly absent in the
other regions. It is worth noting that the strain concentrated regions are
roughly oriented at ±45∘ with respect to the tensile loading direction,
and are relatively scattered. Similar ±45∘ orientations are are observed
in CP-Ti subjected to cyclic tensile loading via optical DIC analysis.
These concentrated bands appeared to correspond to the grain
X.H. Gong et al. Materials Characterization 189 (2022) 111940

Fig. 6. (a) Inverse pole figure maps (the

(a) 0.03 (b) 0.06 (c) 0.09 upper row) and corresponding image qual­
ity maps overlaid with twin boundaries (the
lower row) for the CP-Ti deformed at
different tensile strains (numbers in the
upper right corner). The types of deforma­
tion twins are identified by the angle be­
tween neighboring grains along a specific
crystallographic orientation. For instance, if
the angle between the 〈1120〉 orientations
(d) 0.03 (e) 0.06 (f) 0.09 of two neighboring grains is 85.0±5∘, then
the twin is a {1012} extension twin. The
blue, red and green lines refer to the {1012}
extension, {1122} contraction and {1121}
extension twin boundaries, respectively.
(a)–(c) refer to approximately the same re­
gion of interest. (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend,
RD 0001
--
2110
- -
1210 85.0±5° {1012} extension 100 μm the reader is referred to the web version of
- -
1010 64.4±5° {1122} contraction
- - this article.)
1010 35.0±5° {1121} extension
ND -
1010

(a)
(b)
Fig. 7. (a) Average strain and (b) standard deviation of strain as a function of
subset radius for speckled images.
boundaries inclined ±45∘ with respect to the loading direction, and the
bands sometimes extended into neighboring grain interiors [42].
With the decrease of SEM imaging magnification and the increase of
speckle size (Fig. 8d–8f), the strain concentrated regions are still ori­
ented approximately at ±45∘ with the tensile direction. However, the
angle for some concentrated regions is much smaller or larger than 45∘.
Such features may be attributed to the effects of microstructure and
boundaries on local deformation, causing deviation from the idealized
45∘. Compared with the case of microscale speckles, the evolution of
strain field for the case of mesoscale speckles is similar, while the dis­
tribution of the strain concentrated regions is not as dispersed as the
microscale case. In the optical imaging case (macroscale speckles), the
strain fields show several main strain concentrated bands oriented at
±45∘ with the tensile direction. The “multiscale” strain fields indicate
that the strain localized regions at different spatial scales are oriented at
±45∘ with the tensile direction, and the discrete strain concentrated
regions at the microscale form large strain concentrated bands on the
macroscale as a result of spatial averaging.
Furthermore, additional characterization at the microscale is per­
formed on a CP-Ti specimen with a tensile strain of 0.03. The image
quality and Euler-Almansi strain field maps overlaid with grain
boundaries are shown in Fig. 9c and d. Similar to Fig. 8a, strain parti­
tioning within deformation twins and grain boundaries are also
observed in Fig. 9c and d. Nevertheless, the strain levels within the
{1122} contraction twins are much lower, indicating that the defor­
mation twin type affects the degree of strain localization.
In order to understand the mechanism of strain localization of the
CP-Ti specimen under uniaxial tension, the misorientation angles for the
strain concentrated grain boundaries are calculated in Fig. 10b given the
strain field and EBSD results. The strain localized grain boundaries are
those with the strains around them twice the global strain of the CP-Ti
specimen. The distribution of the misorientation angles in the unde­
formed CP-Ti is approximately uniform (Fig. 10a), and different from
that of the deformed sample. For the deformed sample, the grain
boundaries with a high misorientation angle (>80∘) have the highest
proportion, indicating that strain concentration tends to form at large-
angle grain boundaries (Fig. 10b); such a biased distribution of misori­
entation angle is a result of strain localization.
In addition, the angles (θ) between the loading direction and the
strain-localized twin boundaries/general grain boundaries are presented
in Fig. 10c and d. The proportions of θ = 45∘ for both the twin boundaries
and the general grain boundaries are the largest, and the more θ deviates
from 45 degrees, the lower its proportion. Such deviations may be
caused by the coordination of microstructure on local deformation.
Furthermore, the contributions to strain concentration of twin bound­
aries and general grain boundaries are compared. The average strains
for the strain-localized deformation twins, the general grain boundaries

5
X.H. Gong et al. Materials Characterization 189 (2022) 111940

(a) 0.03 (b) 0.06 (c) 0.09

45°

45°

0 0.18 50 μm
(d) 0.03 (e) 0.06 (f) 0.09

45°

45°

0 0.18 200 μm
(g) 0.03 (h) 0.06 (i) 0.09

45°
45°

ND RD
0 0.18 1 mm
(j) 0.03 (k) 0.06 (l) 0.09

Fig. 8. Euler-Almansi strain field maps of three different CP-Ti specimens acquired with high-magnification SEM-DIC (the top row), low-magnification SEM-DIC (the
middle row), and optical DIC (the bottom row), respectively, at different tensile strains as noted. The high-magnification SEM maps (the upper row) are overlaid with
twin boundaries (gray curves) and general grain boundaries. The loading direction is horizontal. The dashed lines are at ±45∘ with the loading direction.

(a) 0.03 (c) 0.03

0 0.16 50 μm 0 0.16 50 μm

(b) 0.03 (d) 0.03

- - -
0 0.5 {1012} extension {1122} contraction {1121} extension

Fig. 9. (a) Euler-Almansi strain field maps shown in Fig. 8a and b corresponding Schmid factor mapping for the {1011}〈1120〉 pyramidal 〈a〉 slip. (c) Image quality
and (d) Euler-Almansi strain field maps overlaid with twin boundaries (gray curves) and general grain boundaries for another CP-Ti specimens at a strain of 0.03.

and the high angle grain boundaries are shown in Fig. 11. The spatial
cutoff used to calculate the mean strain is 3 pixels around the grain
boundary. Both the average value at the same tensile strain and the
increase rate of average strain for the strain-concentrated grain
boundaries are larger than those for the strain-concentrated twins. The
average strain for high angle grain boundaries is larger than that of
general grain boundaries. Such results suggest that the accumulation of
localized plastic strain during tension tends to occur preferentially at
general grain boundaries, especially at the large angle grain boundaries.
A probable reason is that the pre-existing grain boundaries are prone to

6
X.H. Gong et al. Materials Characterization 189 (2022) 111940

(a) (b)

(c) (d)
45°

45°

Fig. 10. Neighbor-to-neighbor misorientation angle distributions for (a) the as-received CP-Ti (corresponding to Fig. 1a) and (b) the strain-localized grain boundaries
in deformed CP-Ti (Fig. 6a), and histograms of the angle between strain-localized (c) twin boundaries and (d) general grain boundaries with the loading direction.

conclusions are as follows.

• The strain localization regions are mainly at ±45∘ with the tensile
direction, regardless of the resolution of strain field and speckle size, and
the deviations from ±45∘ may be related to the coordination of micro­
structure induced by local deformation.
• The strain concentration bands observed with the macroscale
speckles are composed of the microscale strain localized regions
dispersed at grain boundaries and within deformation twins.
• Strain localization tends to form at grain boundaries and inside
deformation twins, especially at the large angle grain boundaries.
• The amplitude and rate of strain accumulation at grain bound­
aries are higher than inside deformation twins, probably because the
pre-existing grain boundaries are prone to dislocation tangling.

Data availability

The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot

be shared at this time as the data also forms part of an ongoing study.

Credit authorship contribution statement

Fig. 11. Average strain values of the strain-localized twin boundaries, general
grain boundaries and high angle grain boundaries (>80∘) for the CP-Ti
deformed at different tensile strains. Insets: representative strain-localized
X.H. Gong, Z.D. Feng and D. Fan: Methodology, Investigation,
twin boundary and strain-localized general grain boundary. Conceptualization. L. Lu: Visualization, Data curation, Formal analysis,
Supervision, Writing - original draft, Resources. S.N. Luo: Writing - re­
view & editing, Validation, Funding acquisition.
dislocation nucleation and tangling, resulting in strain concentration,
compared with the deformation twin boundaries.
Declaration of Competing Interest
4. Summary
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
In this study, speckles at three different scales are prepared to interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
investigate strain localization in titanium under uniaxial tension. The the work reported in this paper.
electro-polishing is used to fabricate microscale and mesoscale speckles,
and the macroscale speckles are prepared via spray painting. The Acknowledgments
microstructure evolution and strain fields during tension are obtained by
in situ EBSD, SEM DIC and optical DIC measurements. Our main This work was sponsored in part by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11902274 and 11627901), the

7
X.H. Gong et al.
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China
(Grant No. 2682021CX115) and Sichuan Science and Technology Pro­
gram (Grant Nos. 2020YFG0139 and 2022YFG0033).
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