Microstructure of Horseshoe Nails Using Neutron Diffraction*

Neutron diffraction allows non-destructive testing of the bulk microstructure of mechanical components. The microstructures of horseshoe nails made through three different processes have been explored as a function of position along the nail. Despite all nails being made of similar plain low carbon steel and being process annealed after manufacture, the microstructures are far from the same. Nails made from strip, using a cold forging stamping process, show narrower diffraction peaks indicating a narrower distribution of lattice parameters and also show diffraction peak intensity ratios closer to those expected for unstrained steel. Thus the distribution of the orientation of grains in these nails is closer to that of undistorted steel compared to nails made through the other two processes considered – one a drawing from wire, the other a combination of rolling and cold forging. The blades of the drawn nails showed little preferred orientation but the converse was true in the heads. Differing patterns of preferred orientation suggest that the various manufacturing approaches result in substantially different mechanical advantages for the three types of nails, a result in accord with mechanical testing.