In Situ Biaxial Mechanical Testing at the Neutron Time-of-Flight Diffractometer POLDI

Complex strain paths are often applied to materials during production processes. This paper shows the first successful in-situ biaxial mechanical tests during neutron diffraction performed on a cruciform steel sample and reports on the differences compared to uniaxial deformation. Digital image correlation is demonstrated to be an appropriate tool to monitor spatially resolved the macroscopic straining. The new, modular biaxial machine that will be installed at the neutron diffractometer POLDI is presented.