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An important advance in understanding the mechanics of solids over the last 50 years has been development of a suite of models that describe the performance of engineering materials while accounting for internal fluctuations and anisotropies (ex., anisotropic response of grains) over a hierarchy of length scales. Only limited engineering adoption of these tools has occurred, however, because of the lack of measured material responses at the length scales where the models are cast. Here, we demonstrate an integrated experimental capability utilizing high energy X-rays that provides an in situ , micrometer-scale probe for tracking evolving microstructure and intergranular stresses during quasi-static mechanical testing. We present first-of-a-kind results that show an unexpected evolution of the intergranular stresses in a titanium alloy undergoing creep deformation. We also discuss the expectation of new discoveries regarding the underlying mechanisms of strength and damage resistance afforded by this rapidly developing X-ray microscopy technique.

The advancement and transition of computational materials models requires corresponding developments in experimental methods to provide new phenomenological insights as well as quantification of model performance. In this article, we explore the natural links between crystal plasticity modeling and a suite of high-energy X-ray diffraction experimental techniques referred to as high-energy diffraction microscopy (HEDM). HEDM methods provide information such as the elastic strain state of individual grains and the distribution of crystallographic orientations. As a non-destructive characterization method, pairing HEDM with in situ mechanical testing enables tracking of material state evolution through quantitative measurements that may be directly compared to a simulation. We highlight some recent successes in this area and provide suggestions for future research.