Taking three-dimensional x-ray diffraction (3DXRD) from the synchrotron to the laboratory scale
Seunghee Oh, Yuefeng Jin, Sangwon Lee, Wenxi Li, Ken Geauvreau, Matthew Williams, Robert E. Drake, Ashley Bucsek
Abstract
Three-dimensional x-ray diffraction (3DXRD), a rotating x-ray diffraction technique, is a powerful tool for studying the micromechanical behavior of polycrystalline materials, capable of measuring the volume, position, orientation, and strain of thousands of grains simultaneously. However, its application has been historically limited to synchrotron facilities. Here, we present the first demonstration of laboratory-scale 3DXRD (Lab-3DXRD) using a liquid-metal-jet source. Lab-3DXRD achieves accuracy comparable to synchrotron-based 3DXRD, as validated against laboratory diffraction contrast tomography (LabDCT) and synchrotron-3DXRD. Over 96% of the grains detected with Lab-3DXRD are cross-validated, particularly for coarse grains (> ~60 μm), while the results suggest that finer grains should be accessible by taking advantage of high-efficiency detectors. We further demonstrate that its sensitivity to finer grains is enhanced by incorporating pre-characterization into the analysis. This study establishes Lab-3DXRD as a practical alternative to synchrotron techniques, making 3DXRD accessible to a wider range of academic and industrial researchers. 3D x-ray diffraction (3DXRD) is a powerful technique for studying the mechanical behavior of polycrystalline materials. Historically limited to synchrotrons, here, we present the first demonstration of 3DXRD at the laboratory scale (Lab-3DXRD).