Current Residual Stress Diffractometer at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HIDRA) and Proposed Upcoming Upgrades

The High Intensity Diffractometer for Residual stress Analysis (HIDRA) strain scanning diffractometer at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been operating with an upgraded 2D detector and enhanced software for four years. Ongoing improvements to the neutron optics are being implemented, leveraging advanced manufacturing techniques such as additive manufacturing. A new data acquisition system enables users to easily visualize the measurement grid and maintain measurement locations within a user-defined sample coordinate system, offering capabilities unmatched by comparable instruments worldwide. Additionally, the upgrade facilitated the development of a new data analysis and visualization system. This system, pyRS, is a Python-based, open-source tool designed for slicing reactor-based NeXus data structures.

Looking ahead, HFIR's upcoming beryllium reflector replacement will support further enhancements to the HIDRA instrument. Planned upgrades include the integration of a complex sample manipulation stage featuring a six-axis robotic arm. Combined with the existing data acquisition system, this advancement will enable full strain tensor mapping in engineering materials and spatial determination of pole figures. This presentation will provide an overview of the current instrument capabilities and outline plans for the upcoming upgrades.