O. Zanellato

High-tech composites to ancient metals

Neutron diffraction methods offer a direct measure of the elastic component of strain deep within crystalline materials through precise characterisation of the interplanar crystal lattice spacing. The unique non-destructive nature of this measurement technique is particularly beneficial in the context of engineering design and archaeological materials science, since it allows the evaluation of a variety of structural and deformational parameters inside real components without material removal, or at worst with minimal interference. We review a wide range of recent experimental studies using the Engin-X materials engineering instrument at the ISIS neutron source and show how the technique provides the basis for developing improved insight into materials of great importance to applications and industry.

Development of Intergranular Stresses during In Situ Compression Tests in Zircaloy-4

This paper reports results of an in-situ compression experiment carried out on a hot rolled Zircaloy-4 plate at ENGIN-X, ISIS. The experiment was aimed at characterizing the plastic anisotropy of the alloy, which can give rise to high intergranular stresses in the polycrystal. As expected from the crystal anisotropy, the various lattice reflections had very different behaviours. In the compression directions, the basal <0002> reflections appeared to bear much more load than the other planes. The resulting intergranular elastic strains could therefore reach up to 5000 microstrain after 10% total deformation, and were responsible for high type II residual stresses after unloading. Considering the macroscopic behaviour, the normal direction had higher mechanical properties than the other two processing directions. The strong texture measured from EBSD measurements suggest that the crystal anisotropy has been brought to a macroscopic level. The experiment also evidenced a significant change in texture for compression along the rolling direction which indicates twinning activation.