NEUTRON-SCATTERING IN ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

The state of stress generated in engineering components during manufac ture and use can significantly influence their load carrying capacity and resistance to fracture. Some manufacturing processes introduce dam aging residual tensile stresses whereas others can produce beneficial compression. In order to make reliable estimates of component performa nce it is necessary to have an accurate knowledge of these stresses. I n this paper a technique for measuring residual stresses non-destructi vely by neutron diffraction is outlined. A representative selection of stress distributions developed by a range of manufacturing processes is examined. Some comparisons are made with strain gauge, X-ray and fi nite element determinations. It is shown how the results can be of ben efit in engineering stress analysis.