In Situ Neutron Radiography Investigations of Hydrogen Related Processes in Zirconium Alloys

In situ neutron radiography experiments can provide information about diffusive processes and the kinetics of chemical reactions. The paper discusses requirements for such investigations. As examples of the zirconium alloy Zircaloy-4, the hydrogen diffusion, the hydrogen uptake during high-temperature oxidation in steam, and the reaction in nitrogen/steam and air/steam atmospheres, results of in situ neutron radiography investigations are reviewed, and their benefit is discussed

Statistical Uncertainty in Quantitative Neutron Radiography

We demonstrate a novel procedure to calibrate neutron detection systems commonly used in standard neutron radiography. This calibration allows determining the uncertainties due to Poisson-like neutron counting statistics for each individual pixel of a radiographic image. The obtained statistical errors are necessary in order to perform a correct quantitative analysis. This fast and convenient method is applied to data measured at the cold neutron radiography facility ICON at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Moreover, from the results the effective neutron flux at the beam line is determined

Operando neutron imaging study of a commercial Li-ion battery at variable charge-discharge current densities

publishedVersio

Neutron Radiographic Study of the Effect of Heat-Driven Water Transport on the Tensile Strength of Bentonite-Bonded Moulding Sand

Wet tensile testing is a common method to assess the stability of bentonite bonded moulding sands. For wet tensile testing, a specimen is first heated from above in order to simulate heat-driven moisture transport induced by the casting process. Then, tensile stress is applied until rupture. In this study, neutron radiography imaging was applied to moulding sands in-situ during heating and wet tensile testing in order to investigate the effects of water kinematics on the tensile strength. Neutron radiography allowed the localization of the rupture plane and the quantitative determination of the local water content with sub-mm resolution. Quantification of the temperature at the rupture plane and of the heat kinematics within the specimen was accomplished by temperature measurements both in-situ and ex-situ. In this way, experimental data correlating the wet tensile strength with the specific conditions of moulding sands at the rupture plane were obtained for the first time. Series of experiments with different initial sand moisture contents were conducted. The results show that the weakest location within a sand profile can be pinpointed at the interface between evaporation and condensation zone (i.e., at the 100 °C isotherm), where water vaporisation starts and the water bridges connecting the sand grains collapse. This weakest location has maximum strength, if the local water content at the rupture plane is between 5 and 9 wt.%. Less water leads to a strong decrease of wet tensile strength. More water requires an initial water content above 5 wt.%, which leads to a decrease of the tensile strength of the unheated sand

Quantitative Neutron Dark-field Imaging through Spin-Echo Interferometry

Neutron dark field imaging constitutes a seminal progress in the field of neutron imaging as it combines real space resolution capability with information provided by one of the most significant neutron scattering techniques, namely small angle scattering. The success of structural characterizations bridging the gap between macroscopic and microscopic features has been enabled by the introduction of grating interferometers so far. The induced interference pattern, a spatial beam modulation, allows for mapping of small angle scattering signals and hence addressing microstructures beyond direct spatial resolution of the imaging system with high efficiency. However, to date the quantification in the small angle scattering regime is severely limited by the monochromatic approach. To overcome such drawback we here introduce an alternative and more flexible method of interferometric beam modulation utilizing a spin echo technique. This novel method facilitates straightforward quantitative dark field neutron imaging, i.e. the required quantitative microstructural characterization combined with real space image resolution. For the first time quantitative microstructural reciprocal space information from small angle neutron scattering becomes available together with macroscopic image information creating the potential to quantify several orders of magnitude in structure sizes simultaneousl

Bragg edge tomography characterization of additively manufactured 316L steel

In this work we perform a neutron Bragg edge tomography of stainless steel 316L additive manufacturing samples, one as built via standard laser powder bed fusion, and one using the novel three-dimensional (3D) laser shock peening technique. First, we consider conventional attenuation tomography of the two samples by integrating the signal for neutron wavelengths beyond the last Bragg edge, to analyze the bulk density properties of the material. This is used to map defects, such as porosities or cracks, which yield a lower density. Second, we obtain strain maps for each of the tomography projections by tracking the wavelength of the strongest Bragg edge corresponding to the {111} lattice plane family. Algebraic reconstruction techniques are used to obtain volumetric 3D maps of the strain in the bulk of the samples. It is found that not only the volume of the sample where the shock peening treatment was carried out yields a higher bulk density, but also a deep and remarkable compressive strain region. Finally, the analysis of the Bragg edge heights as a function of the projection angle is used to describe qualitatively crystallographic texture properties of the samples.Fil: Busi, Matteo. Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging; SuizaFil: Polatidis, Efthymios. Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging; SuizaFil: Malamud, Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; ArgentinaFil: Kockelmann, Winfried. No especifíca;Fil: Morgano, Manuel. No especifíca;Fil: Kaestner, Anders. Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging; SuizaFil: Tremsin, Anton. University of California at Berkeley; Estados UnidosFil: Kalentics, Nikola. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; SuizaFil: Logé, Roland. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; SuizaFil: Leinenbach, Christian. No especifíca;Fil: Shinohara, Takenao. No especifíca;Fil: Strobl, Markus. Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging; Suiz

Enhanced gas-liquid absorption through natural convection studied by neutron imaging

Heat release from absorption storage heat pump by means of absorption of water vapor into aqueous sodium hydroxide is limited by uptake kinetics affecting temperature gain, as well as power- and energy density of the method. Earlier studies pinpoint that natural diffusion alone is not sufficient to reach higher uptake rate, and that the surface to bulk exchange has to be enforced. In this paper, different technical solutions to this problem for the heat storage application are introduced and studied by neutron imaging, enabling visual observation of water vapor uptake and diffusion. The experiments brought to the fore that the buoyancy changes associated with water uptake may be utilized to markedly enhance kinetics. This concept was applied on a vertically installed spiral finned tube operating as heat and mass exchanger for the absorption storage heat pump, also referred to as sorption heat storage. By flooding the space between the spiral fin with absorbent, water absorption into the vertical surface leads to a buoyancy driven movement of the liquid, supplying unspent aqueous NaOH to the vertical surface and exchanging it with the diluted liquid. This is found to increase the rate of absorption markedly. Under realistic heat storage specific operating conditions, a temperature gain of 12.5 K, an active area specific power of 1.28 kW/m2 and an energy density of 243 kWh/m3 in respect to the volume of charged absorbent (greatest volume) is reached. It is proposed that carful design of the spiral finned tube to enhance buoyancy movement will further improve overall sorption heat storage performance

Non-Invasive Multidimensional Imaging Applied on Biological Substances

This thesis presents the research and development of a microwave instrument to capture tomographic information from the inner structure of the biological sample. The principle of the instrument is based on the anisotropy introduced by the fibres in materials such as wood and muscles in terms of information regarding changes in the fibre structure. The information is presented as images representing the state of polarization using Stokes parameters, the complex polarization ratio, and the ellipticity and the linear tilt angles. The theory of wave propagation in anisotropic media is discussed and related to the dielectric properties of wood. Experiments have shown that the developed instrument can be utilized in various applications such as localizing knots and cavities in wood and to detect mechanical contamination of meat. A second instrument has been improved by introducing a new signal analysis step to estimate the relative shrinkage profile of paper. The estimator is based on tracking frequency variations in the joint time frequency spectrum and follows the lower bound of the problem for the relevant noise levels

Microwave polarimetry based wood scanning

We describe a method to detect knots and faults in wood logs based on microwave measurements and the depolarising properties of wood. The depolarisation is an effect of the anisotropy in the dielectric properties of wood, which is caused by the fibre structure. The measurements are made in the frequency domain where a discrete reflec-tion spectrum is sampled. By transforming the frequency spectrum into the time domain the spatial distribution of the reflections appear. The wave is transmitted in a pure linear polarisation, tilted to 45° For each discrete frequency all available information is measured for the reflected wave and therefore it is possible to calculate the complex polarisation ratio and the state of polarisation which are the quantities containing the most visible information. The measurements are one dimensional and by combining measurements from different directions we create tomographic slice images of the inner structure of a log. Our measurements has showed the possibility to follow the extension of knots in a log using only a iso-surface visualisation. The used equipment is working at low intensity and is therefore virtually harm-less to human beings, furthermore it is portable and can be operated by one single person