X-ray observation of plastic deformation

It is well known that a piece of metal deforms in an irreversible or plastic manner when it is bent. This property is important from the standpoint of the feasibility of forming various types of metallic products as well as toughness as a structural material. Scientists from Riso National Laboratory, Denmark recently tried taking "snapshots" with hard X-rays. They observed some extremely interesting phenomena, i.e., the emergence and disappearance of the dislocation structure, which takes place during deformation. For more information, see the paper, "Formation and Subdivision of Deformation Structures During Plastic Deformation", B. Jakobsen et al., Science 312, 889 (2006).