In the past, many unexpected failures of components were due to poor quality control or a failure to calculate—or to miscalculate—the stresses or fatigue stresses a component would experience in service. Today, improved manufacturing, fracture mechanics, and computational finite element methods combine to provide a solid framework for reducing safety factors, enabling leaner design. In this context, residual stress—that is, stress that equilibrates within the structure and is always present at some level due to manufacturing—presents a real problem. It is difficult to predict and as hard to measure. If unaccounted for in design, these stresses can superimpose upon in-service stresses to result in unexpected failures.

Neutron diffraction is one of the few methods able to provide maps of residual stress distributions deep within crystalline materials and engineering components. Neutron strain scanning, as the technique is called, is becoming an increasingly important tool for the materials scientist and engineer alike. Point, line-scan, area-scan, and full three-dimensional (3D) maps are being used to design new materials, optimize engineering processes, validate finite element modeis, predict component life, and diagnose engineering failures.