Non-destructive texture characterization by a robot-arm-driven X-ray diffractometer

The most common methods for texture characterization require cutting a coupon to be inserted into an X-ray texture goniometer or an electron microscope and are, therefore, destructive. However, there are many cases where texture characterization needs to be performed in a non-destructive way, where the measurement can be made without damaging the object. Typical examples are archaeological artefacts or very expensive materials. Here we demonstrate the application of an X-ray diffractometer mounted on a robotic arm designed for residual stress scanning for texture characterization, enabling the determination of the orientation distribution function for different locations on samples with complex geometries. The texture characterization method was benchmarked on a cold-rolled aluminium sheet.