Residual Stress Measurement methods

Contour Method Slitting Method
Hole Drilling Method Ring Core Method
X-ray Diffraction Method Neutron Diffraction Method
Deep Hole Drilling Barkhausen Noise Analysis

X-ray Diffraction

Near-surface residual stress measurement

X-ray Diffraction is a widely used technique for near-surface residual stress measurements. This method uses the diffraction patterns created by x-rays interacting with the regular atomic lattice to quantify residual stress. The x-ray penetration is relatively shallow in most materials, typically on the order of 0.001 inch (0.025 mm), allowing for the quantification of sharp residual stress gradients. Layer removal is used to measure residual stress at depths beyond the penetration distance.

X-ray Diffraction is useful for

  • Applications requiring in-field measurements with portable equipment
  • Near-surface residual stress determination (to depth of 1.0 mm)
  • Measuring multiple stress components (in-plane principal stresses)

External materials

Download X-ray Diffraction Technical Brief

Comparison of Slitting Method, Contour Method, and X-ray Diffraction with layer removal residual stress measurements on a laser shock peened titanium specimen.

Photograph of an x-ray diffraction with layer removal measurement on a shot peened titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V test specimen

Results from an x-ray diffraction with layer removal residual stress measurement on a shot peened aluminum alloy test specimen.

Illustration of x-ray diffraction with layer removal measurement repeatability comparing the results from twelve independent measurement trials.