Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on January 31, 2008) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This study evaluated dome test samples of a superplastic AA5083 aluminum alloy deformed at nominally constant strain rates under biaxial strain conditions. Dome test samples resulted from gas-pressure forming of sheet material; for this study, samples were deformed at strain rates corresponding either to grain boundary sliding or dislocation creep control of deformation. Orientation Imaging Microscopy was utilized to determine texture development, grain size and grain-to-grain misorientation angle distributions for locations located along a line of latitude of the dome samples. The goal was to identify the location of the transition from grain boundary sliding to dislocation creep. Grain boundary sliding, which dominates at lower strain rates, can be recognized by a randomized texture and a higher concentration of high disorientation angles. Dislocation creep, which dominates at higher strain rates, is characterized by fiber texture formation and development of a peak at lower angles in the grain-to-grain misorientation angle distribution. / Ensign, United States Navy