Non-destructive methods for determination of residual stress and material degradation and their potential for life assessment

Methods based on magnetic response and diffraction are now available to determine the total stress field in a component or structure, Examples include recent applications to industrial components and plant both during manufacture and in-service. where the full biaxial stress tensor has been measured in a range of structures. Recent results are also presented of nondestructive methods for assessing material properties, and hence for monitoring in-service degradation in-situ. The techniques include ultrasonics, magnetics, positron annihilation and SANS. and the applications are creep, hydrogen attack, fatigue, plastic and radiation damage.