Engineering Applications of Synchrotron X-Rays and Neutrons and the FaME38 Project

Large Central Scientific Facilities such as the ESRF (the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility) and ILL (the European centre for neutron research), were set up to provide scientists with the advanced facilities they need to exploit neutron and synchrotron X-ray beams for scientific research. Engineers also conduct research at these Facilities, but this is less common as most practicing engineers generally have little or no knowledge of neutron or X-ray scattering, or of their considerable potential for engineering research, model validation, material development and for fatigue and failure analysis. FaME38 is the new joint support Facility for Materials Engineering, located at ILL-ESRF, set up to encourage and to facilitate engineering research by engineers at these facilities. It provides a technical and knowledge centre, a materials support laboratory, and the additional equipment and resources that academic and industrial engineers need for materials engineering research to become practicable, efficient and routine. It enables engineers to add the most advanced scientific diffraction and imaging facilities to their portfolio of diagnostic tools. These include non-destructive internal and through-surface strain scanning, phase analysis, radiography and tomography of engineering components. Synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction strain mapping is particularly suited for the rigorous experimental, non-destructive, validation of Finite Element and other computer model codes used to predict residual stress fields that are critical to the performance and lifetimes of engineering components. This paper discusses the FaME38 facility and demonstrates its utility in gaining fundamental insight into mechanical engineering problems through examples, including studies of railway rails, welds and peened surfaces that demonstrate the potential of neutron of synchrotron X-ray strain scanning for the determination of residual stress fields in a variety of engineering materials and critical components.