The high flux provided by Synchrotron sources enables high temporal resolution observation of dynamic phenomena. Particularly, High Energy Monochromatic X-ray diffraction enables the study of many in situ and in operando manufacturing processes. Still, most instruments providing this technique have a limit in sample thickness of a few mm for transition metals (Fe, Ni, Ti, etc.). Additionally, there is no spatial resolution through thickness, limiting studies to processes which do not introduce property gradients through the thickness of the part. In counterpoint, with Energy Dispersive X-ray diffraction it is possible to define a gauge volume inside the sample. Photons scattered outside of this gauge volume do not contribute to collected diffraction spectra. As such, experiments on spatially heterogeneous samples can be carried out while still focusing the analysis on the region of interest. Of particular interest are experiments tracking the evolution of manufacturing processes which introduce spatial heterogeneities, as welding, machining, extrusion, etc.
Use of Energy Dispersive X-ray diffraction for in situ characterization of dynamic processes in large components does have a few requirements. A high flux is needed for providing the necessary spatial resolution, a broad energy range is needed for providing a large q range, and an incident flux extending to high energies is needed to penetrate through centimeters of material. The P61A beamline provides a combination of these three requirements. P61A is situated in the PETRA III synchrotron at DESY, and is operated by Helmholtz Zentrum hereon. This work will describe the beamline and its technical capabilities. Additionally, an overview of key in-situ user experiments will be presented, including time resolved studies of welding, tensile testing, etc.