In the present work, the mechanical behavior of phases in duplex steel during tensile test was studied. Special interest was taken in the analysis of damage process just before failure. In this aim two diffraction methods: in-situ time of flight neutron diffraction and X-ray synchrotron diffraction were applied. Using diffraction data, the slip mechanism on crystallographic planes during plastic deformation was investigated. In the case of aged UR45N steel, it was found that significant softening caused by damage process was initiated in the ferritic phase. The lattice strains measured in situ by two above mentioned diffraction methods were compared with prediction of the self-consistent model.