During cooling of particle reinforced metal matrix composites (PMMCs),
residual microstresses emerge due to differences in the properties of
the metal matrix and the ceramic hard phases. The residual microstres
ses strongly depend on microstructural parameters. In order to investi
gate this experimentally, neutron diffraction residual stress analysis
was applied to Fe- and Ni-base alloys containing NbC and WC hard phas
es.