The problem of developing a dedicated neutron diffractometer for placement on a horizontal reactor channel to measure internal stresses in bulk materials and components under conditions of a limited space is considered. It is shown that the use of a double-crystal monochromator composed of pyrolytic graphite and a focusing bent perfect silicon single crystal is the optimal solution to this problem. The diffractometer with such a monochromator that is installed at the IR-8 reactor of the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute is comparable in luminosity and resolution at a reactor power of 6 MW to modern stress diffractometers at more powerful reactors.

The present work seeks to extend the level of understanding of the stress field evolution during direct laser deposition (DLD) of a 3.2 mm thick multilayer wall of Ti-6Al-4V alloy by theoretical and experimental studies. The process conditions were close to the conditions used to produce large-sized structures by the DLD method, resulting in specimens having the same thermal history. A simulation procedure based on the implicit finite element method was developed for the theoretical study of the stress field evolution. The accuracy of the simulation was significantly improved by using experimentally obtained temperature-dependent mechanical properties of the DLD-processed Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The residual stress field in the buildup was experimentally measured by neutron diffraction. The stress-free lattice parameter, which is decisive for the measured stresses, was determined using both a plane stress approach and a force-momentum balance. The influence of the inhomogeneity of the residual stress field on the accuracy of the experimental measurement and the validation of the simulation procedure are analyzed and discussed. Based on the numerical results it was found that the non-uniformity of the through-thickness stress distribution reaches a maximum in the central cross-section, while at the buildup ends the stresses are distributed almost uniformly. The components of the principal stresses are tensile at the buildup ends near the substrate. Furthermore, the calculated equivalent plastic strain reaches 5.9% near the buildup end, where the deposited layers are completed, while the plastic strain is practically equal to the experimentally measured ductility of the DLD-processed alloy, which is 6.2%. The experimentally measured residual stresses obtained by the force-momentum balance and the plane stress approach differ slightly from each other.

The maximum thickness for ferritic steel specimens’ residual stress measurements using neutron diffraction is known to be about 80 mm. This paper proposes a new neutron diffraction configuration of residual stress measurements for cases that are over 80 mm thick. The configuration utilizes a neutron beam with a wavelength of 1.55 Å diffracted from the (220) plane with a diffraction angle (2θ) of 99.4°. The reason for the deep penetration capability is attributed to the chosen wavelength having enough intensities due to the low cross-section near the Bragg edge and the reduced beam path length (~16 mm) reflected by the large diffraction angle. Neutron diffraction experiments with this configuration can decrease strain errors up to ±150 με, corresponding to a stress of about ±30 MPa.

Residual stresses in an X-shaped weld of 32-mm-thick steel plates have been studied using neutron diffraction. The effect of pre-holding of weldments and their post-weld heat treatment on the distribution of residual stresses has been studied. The stress distribution is close to symmetric with respect to the centerline of the weld section and clearly asymmetric with respect to the middle of the weld thickness. The maximum tensile (longitudinal) stresses occur in the weld half-thickness, which was welded first. The peak value of longitudinal stresses in a fixed plate is 800 MPa (98% of the yield strength of the weld metal), which is significantly higher than that in a free plate (530 MPa). The zone of maximum compressive (transverse) stresses of –400 MPa in a fixed plate is located in the first half-thickness of the weld, while its second half occurs in the free plate. After heat treatment, the tensile and compressive stresses remained in general tensile and compressive, respectively. The maximum tensile longitudinal stresses were reduced to 270 MPa in the fixed plate and to 220 MPa in the free plate. The maximum compressive transverse stresses in both plates were reduced to ‒170 MPa.