SALSA: Strain Analyser for Large and Small Scale Engineering Applications

Abstract

Neutron diffraction has already matured into a very reliable bulk and near surface technique for residual stress (RS) analysis with worldwide standards being established. As a result the demand for time-efficient neutron strain mapping is increasing very rapidly. The strain mapper, strain analyser for large and small scale engineering applications (SALSA) at the ILL, the world’s most powerful steady neutron source, is a new instrument for RS analysis in engineering components, designed to meet this demand. Thanks to the high flux of the new m = 2 supermirror guide (gaining a factor 3–5 on the existing guide), SALSA will increase the range of engineering applications by improving the resolution, radically extending sample manipulation, shortening the measurement times and simplifying data processing. It is designed to allow multi-axial manipulation of components of more than 1 m length and more than 500 kg weight, yet having a spatial resolution of 0.5×0.5×0.5 mm³ at a depth up to several centimetres. At the same time, precise near surface measurement will be standard, owing to the presence of radial focusing collimators and to a positioning precision better than 50 μm.