Tensometry of carbon fibres and elastomers at the diffractometer at BL20B of the Photon Factory

Two systems have been developed for the simultaneous recording of the SAXS and the WAXS patterns from carbon fibre and elastomer samples which are placed under stress. The systems have been designed to fit inside the versatile vacuum diffractometer (BIGDIFF) at the Photon Factory. In one system, use is made of the ability to move the imaging-plate cassette. In the other, use has been made of an imaging-plate changer which can deliver up to 13 plates into position with a duty cycle of about 60 s. In this case each imaging plate can record SAXS/WAXS patterns in the range 0.5-20° due to the passage of the beam through the specimen which is mounted in a specially designed tensometer. Because BIGDIFF is a vacuum diffractometer and parasitic scattering is small, exposure times as short as 2 s can give acceptable SAXS/WAXS patterns. The systems have been used for the study of both the change of structure with strain, and the relaxation processes which occur as a result of the sample being strained at a fixed rate by a predetermined amount.