Neutron Diffraction for Characterizing Deformation Mechanisms in Metallic Materials Across Temperatures

Understanding deformation mechanisms and phase transformation behavior is essential for designing metallic materials with superior mechanical properties. However, conventional ex situ observations have limitations because deformation behavior is strongly influenced by the applied stress state, and intermediate microstructural changes are difficult to track accurately using separate experiments or different specimens. In addition, variations in experimental conditions can affect the results.

Neutron diffraction, owing to its high penetration depth, enables nondestructive bulk-averaged crystallographic analysis during deformation. Recent advances in high-intensity pulsed neutron sources have further enabled operando measurements under various loading and temperature conditions.

In this presentation, deformation and phase transformation mechanisms in metallic materials revealed by operando neutron diffraction will be introduced, focusing on experiments conducted over a wide temperature range using the TAKUMI diffractometer at J-PARC.