A Comparison between the Warren-Averbach Method and Alternate Methods for X-Ray Diffraction Microstructure Analysis of Polycrystalline Specimens

The fundamental parameters approach is used to simulate the instrument contribution to the X-Ray diffraction profile. This procedure eliminates the need to experimentally prepare a reference sample of the studied crystalline material when using the Warren-Averbach method to investigate microstrutural parameters. The Warren-Averbach method is also compared to the Balzar and Enzo methods, two other popular methods of size-strain analysis. The analysis was carried out using bohmite powder having two different nominal average crystallite sizes, 80 Å and 200 Å. A 50%-50% mixture of these materials was used as a third sample. The proposed simulation procedure provides good results and is much faster to implement than the usual procedure that includes the preparation of a reference. For larger crystallite sizes, the results calculated from the Warren-Averbach method for the volume-weighted average crystallite size differs significantly from the ones obtained from the Balzar and Enzo methods. The limitations of the Balzar and Enzo methods are also discussed.