Abstract
Different methods to describe and analyze the peak and/or fibre characteristics of textures are discussed. In metallic materials the main features of a certain type of texture can clearly and comprehensively be described by using adequate extractions from the three-dimensional orientation distribution function (ODF), which is usually calculated from two-dimensional X-ray pole figures. The ODF has a higher resolving power, but the abstract form of orientation density data plotted in a three-dimensional orientation space is not always the most suitable way for presentation and further interpretation. Methods to describe the textures with the help of ideal orientations and/or fibres, their quantitative analysis with the help of Gauss-type scattering components, the selective projection and plot of characteristic orientation fibres are discussed and compared. As an example the development of rolling textures of fcc metals is described and analyzed. Using these evaluation methods it can be demonstrated how their characteristic features are related to theoretical predictions and to microstructural effects.