VULCAN - The engineering diffractometer at the SNS

The VULCAN diffractometer at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is designed to tackle a broad range of problems in materials science and engineering, including spatial mapping of the residual stress distribution in components, deformation behavior under static and cyclic loadings, and the kinetics of the phase transformation. The optics design features a focusing neutron guide, wide-angular detector coverage for diffraction, and an area detector for small angle scattering. By employing an interchangeable neutron guide-collimator system, the instrument can be optimally configured for individual experiments with desired resolution. The performance of the instrument was estimated using Monte Carlo simulation. A suite of specialized sample environments is also under construction as an integrated part of the instrument. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.