Metallurgy Applications of Handheld X-ray Diffraction

x射线粉末衍射是一种成熟的材料分析技术，其结果与样品材料的微晶结构直接相关。它是鉴定和定量岩石矿物含量的确定方法，并在冶金和新材料开发等其他领域得到广泛应用。许多材料在微米尺度上都是结晶的——岩石、土壤、许多原材料和建筑材料、金属——因此这项技术在研究和工业环境中都有非常广泛的适用性。标准方法通常要求对样品进行仔细和破坏性的准备。Graeme Hansford博士发明了一种创新的x射线衍射（XRD）技术，该技术适用于手持仪器格式。这种XRD技术的独特之处在于对毫米尺度表面形貌的容忍，这使得无需制备样品就可以对样品进行无损分析。这项技术是由莱斯特大学（University of Leicester）与科学仪器的主要制造商布鲁克元素公司（Bruker Elemental）共同开发的。到目前为止，还没有商用手持式XRD仪器，其生产将代表全球第一。较早的一个项目侧重于发展这项技术的采矿应用，而这个新项目的目的是发展这项技术，以便广泛应用于各种金属、合金和涂料。预计这项技术将在钢铁制造、航空航天、船舶、核能和电力系统等工业部门得到应用。

X-ray powder diffractometry is a well-established materials analysis technique which produces results directly linked to the microcrystalline structure of the sample material. It is the definitive method for the identification and quantification of the mineral content of rocks, and finds wide-spread application in other areas such as metallurgy and the development of novel materials. Many materials are crystalline in nature at the micron-scale - rocks, soils, many raw materials and building materials, metals - and so the technique has very wide applicability both in research and industrial contexts. Standard methods generally require careful, and destructive, preparation of the sample.Dr Graeme Hansford has invented an innovative X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique which is suitable for implementation in a handheld instrument format. The unique feature of this XRD technique is tolerance to surface morphology on the mm-scale which allows non-destructive analysis of samples with no preparation of the sample at all. This technique is being developed at the University of Leicester and in conjunction with Bruker Elemental, a major manufacturer of scientific instruments. To date, there are no commercial handheld XRD instruments and its production would represent a global first. An earlier project focussed on developing mining applications of this technology, while this new project is aimed at developing the technique for application to a wide range of metals, alloys and coatings. It is anticipated that this technology will find application in steel manufacture, aerospace, marine, nuclear and power systems industrial sectors.