This investigation concerns the application of the profilometry‐based indentation plastometry (PIP) methodology to obtain stress–strain relationships for material in the vicinity of fusion welds. These are produced by The Welding Institute (TWI), using submerged arc welding to join pairs of thick steel plates. The width of the welds varies from about 5 mm at the bottom to about 40–50 mm at the top. For one weld, the properties of parent and weld metal are similar, while for the other, the weld metal is significantly harder than the parent. Both weldments are shown to be approximately isotropic in terms of mechanical response, while there is a small degree of anisotropy in the parent metal (with the through‐thickness direction being slightly softer than the in‐plane directions). The PIP procedure has a high sensitivity for detecting such anisotropy. It is also shown that there is excellent agreement between stress–strain curves obtained using PIP and via conventional uniaxial testing (tensile and compressive). Finally, the PIP methodology is used to explore properties in the transition regime between weld and parent, with a lateral resolution of the order of 1–2 mm. This reveals variations on a scale that would be very difficult to examine using conventional testing.

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For most engineering metals a material’s crystal structure can play a significant role in its performance in service. This is particularly relevant for materials that display pronounced differences in their physical properties depending on the arrangement and orientation of these crystals. Examples of such alloys are titanium and aluminium which are employed in a wide range of applications from medical to structural. Conventionally, the crystal structure of these materials is measured using various X-ray and electron diffraction techniques. Unfortunately, these are generally costly, time-consuming and therefore impractical in an industrial quality assurance setting. On-going research at Swansea University has demonstrated that a simpler alternative offers a solution to this problem. The project aimed to build on this research to develop a semi-automated method to conduct this analysis. The work involves extensive characterisation of various materials using optical and electron microscopes; this will focus on the direct correlation of electron diffraction data to polarised light microscopy. The project will concentrate on developing this apparatus to provide high quality, reliable information on material crystal structures. Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) is the most well-known approach to investigate the crystal orientation of polycrystalline material. However, when compared to optical microscopy EBSD is an expensive approach, very time consuming and complex laboratory technique needed to plot a crystal orientation map. The research offers a novel approach for optically anisotropic (titanium) and isotropic (aluminium) material to plot the crystal orientation map. The aim of the research is to offer a simpler, cheaper, and less time-consuming method which can be affordable by a middle-class company to have access to the crystal orientation map.