Determination of the Residual Stress State in Components using Neutron Diffraction

Abstract

Neutron diffraction enables the determination of the residual stress state in the bulk of components. While usually the diffraction angle and subsequently the residual strains and stresses are determined in directions corresponding to the directions of the principal stresses, due to reasons of accessibility and the large dimensions of components the measurements frequently have to be performed in directions tilted to those of the principal axes. For such measurements equations for the determination of the error in the stresses are given and examples are presented. Further on the advantages of the well-known X-ray sin² ψ-method in case of neutron diffraction are outlined.