The Debye-Waller Factor for Temperature Distribution Determination in NBEI Experiments: A Case Study for GTAW
- In Neutron-Bragg-Edge Imaging (NBEI) in situ experiments, we studied the phase transitions in martensitic steel sheets during butt-welding. Gas tungsten arc welding was used with a motorized torch allowing automated weldments. The austenitization in the heat affected zone underneath the welding head could be clearly visualized. Also, the retransformation into the martensitic phase upon cooling. However, we observed an unexpected additional change in transmission at λ = 0.44 nm that is at a wavelength larger than the wavelength of the Bragg edges of both the martensitic and austenitic phases. We attribute this change to the Deybe-Waller-Factor that describes the temperature dependence of coherent scattering at a crystal lattice. With help of temperature field simulations that were calibrated by the reading of anattached thermo couple during welding, we could show that the Debye-Waller factor can produce an additional image contrast.