In-situ investigation of strain relaxation in an Al/Si–MMC using high energy synchrotron radiation

Abstract Thermal and mechanical loading induce phase specific strains/stresses in MMCs. At elevated temperature part of the phase-specific strains/stresses relax. The relaxation of the phase-specific strains/stresses is determined by in-situ experiments using white high-energy synchrotron radiation. The experiments reveal that such time-resolved strain measurements are possible and that short-time phenomena can be accessed using white high-energy synchrotron radiation. The elastic strain relaxation behavior is similar for all lattice planes accessed. The influence of the temperature on the characteristic relaxation time is determined. The characteristic relaxation time appears to be independent of the amount of plastic deformation the sample suffers before strain/stress relaxation.