The following is an excerpt from "Measurement of residual stress in materials using neutrons", Proceedings of the IAEA technical meeting held in Vienna 13-17 October, 2003:
Neutron diffraction (ND) as classical X ray diffraction (XRD) and strong X ray synchrotron
diffraction (SD) are based on the same principle and are complementary. Due to their very
nature, XRD is suitable for surface measurements, SD for shallow depths and thin specimens,
and ND for bulk measurements within thick specimens. While ND and SD cannot provide for
in-situ investigations and are only available in some 30 facilities worldwide, XRD can be
applied in-situ and in a vast number of laboratories throughout the world. However, XRD is
not practically useful for probing real industrial components, as it yields very localized
information at the specimen surface, which usually is not representative of the bulk stress
state.
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