Quantitative phase analysis of the multi-phase alloys using neutron diffraction

Alloys including steels usually consist of more than two phases, and the volume fraction of each phase in the materials is closely related to their physical properties. Therefore, accurate data of the volume fraction of each phase in the materials is very useful to control the mechanical properties of the materials. Based on the Rietveld profile refinement of the neutron diffraction patterns and a new texture analysis, a quantitative phase analysis (QPA) method is proposed and examined in artificially produced multi-phase alloys having strong textures. The preferred orientation factors (POFs) of the diffraction peaks was extracted from the inverse pole figure calculated from the orientation distribution function (ODF) that was computed from the averaged pole figures measured by the rotating sample stage providing a faster and simpler texture measurement. The reliability of this method was examined in binary alloy mixtures of known fractions for the zirconium and aluminum. In addition, we applied the QPA method to the evaluation of the amount of retained austenite in a commercial steel strip.