Residual stress measurement system of the general purpose powder diffractometer at CSNS

Neutron diffraction has become a well-established technique for the determination of residual stresses in various structural materials and bulk industrial products because of the unique deep penetration, three-dimensional mapping capability, and volume averaged bulk measurements characteristic of the scattering neutron beam. To conduct experiments in this research area, a residual stress measurement system was established on the general purpose powder diffractometer (GPPD) at the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS), which diffractometer now combines both powder diffraction and residual stress measurement conditions. The best d-space resolution of the diffractometer of medium-angle detector bank is Δd/d ≈ 0.33%. The gauge volume is precisely controlled by the four-blade slits, neutron Kirkpatrick–Baez (KB) mirror and radial collimators, and the general gauge volume is φ2*2 mm 3. The intelligent scanning positioning system established by GPPD achieves high-precision sample positioning, with an accuracy of up to 100μm. Until now, it has completed measurements on standard cycle samples of VAMAS shrink fit rings and plugs with known residual stress distributions, the results confirming the diffractometer’s high sensitivity and high accuracy to stress/strain gradients in materials or components. A large number of beam times are dedicated to user researches including residual stress studies of superalloys, high-entropy alloys, engineering steels, welds, and more. This demonstrates that the GPPD’s residual stress test system and the established test methods are feasible and effective.