A non-destructive method for the measurement of residual strains in semi-crystalline polymer components

A new non-destructive tool is presented, enabling the measurement of locked-in residual strains in semi-crystalline polymer-based components. The technique employs high-energy synchrotron X-rays to probe the variation of diffraction angle within a well-defined ‘gauge volume’ with a spatial resolution of the order of 1 mm. Lattice strain is calculated from the diffraction angles.An overview of the experimental methodology and underlying principles involved in the non-destructive evaluation of residual strain in polymer-based components is given. Preliminary results show that synchrotron X-rays can be used successfully to measure the internal elastic residual strain field in polymer components, being potentially applicable to other materials. The method was used successfully to measure residual strains in a commercial high density polyethylene gas pipeline sample.