Applications of X-Ray Diffraction in Civil Engineering

X-ray diffraction is very powerful non-destructive technique for characterizing crystalline materials. It gives information on structures, phases, preferred crystal orientations and other structural parameters, like average grain size, crystalline, strain, and crystal defects. X-ray diffraction peaks are caused by constructive interference of a monochromatic beam of X-rays scattered at particular angles from each set of lattice planes during a specimen. The peak intensities are observed by the distribution of atoms within the lattice. Consequently, the X¬ray diffraction pattern is that the fingerprint of periodic atomic arrangements during a given material. This review summarizes the scientific trends related to the rapid development of the technique of X-ray diffraction over the past five years concerning the fields of pharmaceuticals, forensic science, geological applications, and glass manufacturing, civil engineering, as well as in corrosion analysis.