X-ray stress measurements in the institute of aviation possibilities and examples

From the point of view of the airplane construction, its fatigue lifetime and exploitation process, the stress states and levels are of crucial importance. The most appropriate experimental methods to determine stress values are diffraction methods with different radiation type employed. These methods allow the determination of the elastic lattice deformation and distortion (effectively the stress state) from the displacement and broadening of the diffraction peak. Diffraction methods are widely known as the experimental methods for determining not only the stress values but also the elastic properties of polycrystalline materials (also of all alloys types used in the aerospace industry). The advantages of diffraction experiments result from their non-destructive character and the possibility to obtain absolute values of stresses in different phases of each type of crystal material (the measurements are performed selectively only for crystallites contributing to the measured diffraction peak, i.e. for the grains having lattice orientations for which the Bragg condition is fulfilled). In the frame of this work, the laboratory possibilities of the Institute of Aviation in this area are presented as well as the exemplary results of stress measurements performed there.