Automation of a neutron diffractometer for analysis of residual stress inside complex engineering components

Residual stress measurement using neutron diffraction is becoming an increasingly important tool in engineering stress analysis. To this effect, a new generation of dedicated engineering strain instruments are being built at neutron sources, offering considerable improvements in both counting time and spatial resolution. Alongside these improvements, measurements in complex geometry prototype components are increasingly in demand. As a result, there is a strong drive towards integrated sample positioning systems that allow for simplified setup and operating of experiments on components with complex geometries.