Microstrain and grain-size analysis from diffraction peak width and graphical derivation of high-pressure thermomechanics

Abstract

An analytical method is presented for deriving the thermomechanical properties of polycrystalline materials under high-pressure (P) and high-temperature (T) conditions. This method deals with non-uniform stress among heterogeneous crystal grains and surface strain in nanocrystalline materials by examining peak-width variation under differentP–Tconditions. Because the method deals directly with latticedspacing and local deformation caused by stress, it can be applied to process any diffraction profile, independent of detection mode. In addition, a correction routine is developed using diffraction elastic ratios to deal with severe surface strain and/or strain anisotropy effects related to nano-scale grain sizes, so that significant data scatter can be reduced in a physically meaningful way. Graphical illustration of the resultant microstrain analysis can identify micro/local yields at the grain-to-grain interactions resulting from high stress concentration, and macro/bulk yield of the plastic deformation over the entire sample. This simple and straightforward approach is capable of revealing the corresponding micro and/or macro yield stresses, grain crushing or growth, work hardening or softening, and thermal relaxation under high-P–Tconditions, as well as the intrinsic residual strain and/or surface strain in the polycrystalline bulk. In addition, this approach allows the instrumental contribution to be illustrated and subtracted in a straightforward manner, thus avoiding the potential complexities and errors resulting from instrument correction. Applications of the method are demonstrated by studies of α-SiC (6H, moissanite) and of micro- and nanocrystalline nickel by synchrotron X-ray and time-of-flight neutron diffraction.