This European Standard describes the test method for the determination of macroscopic residual or applied stresses non-destructively by X-ray diffraction analysis in the near-surface region of a polycrystalline specimen or component.All materials with a sufficient degree of crystallinity can be analysed, but limitations may arise in the following cases (brief indications are given in Clause 12):- Stress gradients;- Lattice constants gradient ;- Surface roughness;- Non-flat surfaces (see 5.1.2);- Highly textured materials;- Coarse grained material (see 5.1.4);- Multiphase materials;- Overlapping diffraction lines;- Broad diffraction lines.The specific proced