popLA Manual (PDF) - Materials Science and Engineering

Figure 1 – DEMO.EPF
Print the plot
Now press F3: it will make a file copy (black/white and with lower resolution) which you will then be given an
option to print (hopefully self-explanatory). If the print doesn't come out right, restart the printer (thereby
deleting all downloaded fonts) and then download ours again.
Inspect the file
Get yourself to page 1 of the menu and select 1, then try.epf. You will see the general format. (Press p to print
out the file.) It will be worth your while to study Appendix B2 some time to understand all aspects of the
format. For now, we emphasize only a few things:
• The first line contains, in its first eight characters, the “specimen name” (here “demo”). This specimen name
will be used by some of the programs, with new extensions. (The rest of line 1 can be arbitrary comments –
some of which may get overwritten later.)
• The second line has first an identifier ("(111)" in this case). Page down a few times to see that this file in fact
contains 3 pole figures, identified with their indices, and separated by a blank line (and a repeat of the title
line).
•Go back home. In line 2, the next number is 5.0 (the angular increment in the radial direction) and then 80.0:
this is the tilt to which measurements were made. Plots are always made to the angle listed in this position.
Note, however, that the file contains numbers right up to 90°: these come from a simple extrapolation
procedure for the purpose of providing a preliminary normalization of the pole figures.
• In line 2, the second number from the end is 100: it is a scaling factor (multiplied by 100); if any of the data
values would exceed 9999, the whole file is multiplied with a factor, and this factor (×100) is shown in line 2.
(It would be less than 100.)
• Immediately preceding the 100 are 3 integers (" 2 1 3" in this case) which reflect your choice of axis
nomenclature, in the sequence right-top-center on the figure. You will note that what you looked at before had
a "2" on the right – reflecting our choice to call the rolling direction "1" and plot it on top. Exit by pressing X.
NOTE: It is at this stage that you should edit your .EPF file, if you ever want to, because all the information in it
is carried forward to all subsequent files!
MASSAGE
There are three common things that one may wish to do with experimental pole figures before proceeding with a
detailed analysis: rotate them, smooth them, and normalize them better. (Other "massaging" items will be
discussed in the DETAILS section.)
TUTORIAL 10