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GATE 2026 MT – Question 26

Physical Metallurgy · Materials characterization · 1 mark · Multiple choice

Residual stress present in a material can be determined by which one of the following techniques:

  1. X-ray Diffraction (XRD)
  2. Tensile Testing
  3. Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)
  4. Optical Microscopy

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Correct answer: (A) X-ray Diffraction (XRD)

Explanation

Residual elastic strain changes crystal lattice spacings. X-ray diffraction measures the resulting shifts of diffraction peak positions with specimen orientation; applying elastic relations yields residual stress. Tensile testing instead loads the specimen globally, while TGA and optical microscopy do not directly measure elastic lattice strain. **XRD, A**.