Interphase microstress measurements in IN718 by cold neutron diffraction

Thermal neutron diffraction is an important and reliable method for the investigation of microscopic stresses. The measurement of Bragg reflections caused by phases of small volume fractions, however, is often intricate due to low intensities and overlapping peaks. The wavelength range of cold neutrons allows to shift the Bragg reflections to larger scattering angles resulting in an increase of relative distances between Bragg reflections. The high resolution of cold neutron diffraction technique is demonstrated by in-situ load tests in which selected Bragg reflections caused by precipitates with small volume fractions in the precipitation strengthened alloy IN718 are observed. The accumulated microstrains show marked differences in dependence of the precipitated phases within the matrix phase.