Stress partitioning in harmonic structure materials at the early stages of tensile loading studied in situ by synchrotron X-ray diffraction

In situ X-ray diffraction was employed to gain insight into the tensile deformation behavior of harmonic structure (HS) nickel. HS consists of a continuous network of fine grains encompassing islands of coarse grains. With the aid of a newly developed separation algorithm, the X-ray diffraction signals from coarse and fine grains were analyzed separately. Using line profile analysis, the evolution of local stresses and microstrains in the respective grain fractions were examined. Several stages were identified during yielding and the onset of plastic deformation in HS nickel. The mechanical behavior of the individual fractions was related to the macroscopic behavior of the HS and compared to that of homogeneous counterparts with similar average grain sizes as the grain fractions. The analysis reveals that the stress partitions between the grain fractions and that the plastic deformation of coarse grains within the HS are constrained by the network of fine grains.