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Industrial Liaison Group:

Tel: +44 (0) 1235 778797

E-mail: industry@diamond.ac.uk

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Residual stress measurements are important in many areas of engineering research from large metallic components in aeroengines, through complex alloys to non-metallic composites.  X-ray powder diffraction can be used to produced strain distribution maps in these components to high spatial resolution.  The incredible brightness of the synchrotron source, coupled with the high photon energy, allows pentetration depths of up to 20 mm of steel and 100 mm of aluminium to be probed.  By performing Energy Dispersive X-ray Diffraction (EDXD) experiments, complex geometries can be investigated in three dimensions.  The results obtained can be used directly or to validate computational models.

Even though X-ray sources are widely available in home laboratories, the synchrotron provides a unique environment and unmatched features. Users benefit from a significant increase in data quality sub-second collection speeds per scan point and small beam sizes for enhanced spatial resolution.  Often the synchrotron can be used for otherwise intractable sampl

• wide variety of sample types and geometries;
• adjustable beam sizes help to tailor the experiment by focusing on the important part of your component;
• high photon flux is invaluable for penetrating through significant thickness of samples;
• fast measurements allow in situ experiments covering a wide range of different environments.

Types of samples which can be studied range from large engineered components such as fan blades from aero-engines through to new composite materials. 

Applications include: 

• Measure the strain and stress to evaluate the mechanical performance of an engineering component or system in real time;
• Study the residual strain and stress in a component that arise due to manufacturing processes by non-destructively mapping the strain profile in 3D;
• Investigate failed components to determine the underlying cause and establish routes to re-engineer the component for future requirements.

Case Studies