The problem
Conventional XRD residual stress measurements are pushed to the limit when the material has a large grain size or lots of texture. Results can be improved by using time consuming tilt and rotation oscillations to get a more averaged set of peak data for a given tilt angle. A customer needed a more efficient solution for measuring residual stress on a magnesium sample with challenging diffraction peak results.
The testing method
Measurements were done using Xstress G3 diffractometer with two type of detectors (Hamamatsu and Mythen). Measurements were also carried out with Xstress DR45 that has 2D area detectors. A 3 mm collimator was used throughout the measurements. In the 1D detector measurements both tilt and rotation oscillations were used. Without them no diffraction data could be measured. With the 2D measurements only tilt oscillations were needed.


The results
2D detector raw data show notable discontinuity in the Debye-Scherrer diffraction ring (Fig.3) explaining the need for rotation and tilt oscillations in 1D detector measurements. 2D detector data is calculated by integrating the intensity along the diffraction ring and only tilt oscillation was needed to gather sufficient data.

Total measurement time with 1D detectors was 1h 49 min. With Mythen detectors the exposure time could be reduced from 150 s to 30 s, but the total measurement time was reduced only by 35% because of all the necessary oscillation movements. DR45 with 2D detectors did the measurement in 3 minutes (Table 1).

Instruments used for this application

Xstress G3
A diffractometer with modifiable movements, giving access to confined spaces and complex geometries.

Xstress DR45
Newest generation of X-ray diffractometers delivering high quality data faster than ever before.