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Strain Investigations using Neutrons
We use high resolution neutron diffraction to study in-situ stress-strain relationships within rocks. The low absorption of neutron allows examinations strain measurements in crystalline lattice of cm size samples
Research Topics
For the investigation of mechanical residual strain in rocks (first, second and third order strain), the deformation of crystalline lattice of the rock-forming minerals is determined.
A wide variety of experimental environments (e.g. uniaxial press, triaxial setup with pore pressure TRIXI) are available to determine the deformation mechanisms of rocks under various stress conditions. As the in-situ deformation is determined, properties which are not directly accessible by macroscopic methods (e.g. pore pressure stress coupling – Biot-alpha).
To address these issues, the Strain/Stress Diffractometer EPSILON (cf. video) was developed to operate on a pulsed neutron source. With these pulsed neutrons, a broad neutron energy spectrum is available, so that the method is called energy-dispersive. It is therefore particularly suitable for the investigation of low-symmetry minerals in polyphase rock samples.