There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

J. Appl. Cryst.の発刊に際して

Additive manufacturing of metallic components – Process, structure and properties

Additive manufacturing of metals

Additive manufacturing (AM), widely known as 3D printing, is a method of manufacturing that forms parts from powder, wire or sheets in a process that proceeds layer by layer. Many techniques (using many different names) have been developed to accomplish this via melting or solid-state joining. In this review, these techniques for producing metal parts are explored, with a focus on the science of metal AM: processing defects, heat transfer, solidification, solid-state precipitation, mechanical properties and post-processing metallurgy. The various metal AM techniques are compared, with analysis of the strengths and limitations of each. Only a few alloys have been developed for commercial production, but recent efforts are presented as a path for the ongoing development of new materials for AM processes.

The metallurgy and processing science of metal additive manufacturing

The uncertainties and the stability of a neutron sensitive MCP/Timepix detector when operating in the event timing mode for quantitative image analysis at a pulsed neutron source were investigated. The dominant component to the uncertainty arises from the counting statistics. The contribution of the overlap correction to the uncertainty was concluded to be negligible from considerations based on the error propagation even if a pixel occupation probability is more than 50%. We, additionally, have taken into account the multiple counting effect in consideration of the counting statistics. Furthermore, the detection efficiency of this detector system changes under relatively high neutron fluxes due to the ageing effects of current Microchannel Plates. Since this efficiency change is position-dependent, it induces a memory image. The memory effect can be significantly reduced with correction procedures using the rate equations describing the permanent gain degradation and the scrubbing effect on the inner surfaces of the MCP pores.

Characterization of a neutron sensitive MCP/Timepix detector for quantitative image analysis at a pulsed neutron source

The spatial resolution of high-accuracy microchannel plate (MCP) detectors has reached the values, where the so-called detector walk (or image blurring) may start to limit any further improvements. Image blurring with gain is studied in detail for detectors incorporating angular-biased MCPs. It was found that the presence of the pore bias at the output MCP results in a variation of the charge footprint position for events with different gains. Events with higher gains are shifted in the direction of the pore bias and the absolute value of this shift is directly proportional to the absolute value of the detector gain. Variation of the detector modal gain from 7.5×106 to 2.5×107 resulted in a ∼100 μm image offset for a 13°-biased MCP positioned at a distance of 8.5 mm from the anode with an accelerating rear field of 75 V/mm. We also extended our previous study of another type of detector walk associated with fluctuations of the accelerating rear field. Image displacements as functions of the rear accelerat...

/pdf/detector-walk-in-position-sensitive-detectors-with-biased-ut55704kqf.pdf

“Detector walk” in position-sensitive detectors with biased microchannel plates

The capability of neutrons to penetrate materials opaque to other non-destructive techniques combined with relatively high neutron attenuation cross section for hydrogen provide unique possibilities to reveal internal distribution of water and other hydrogen-containing substances in various bulky samples. In this study we compare the accuracy of water thickness reconstruction from two types of neutron imaging experiments: neutron radiography with a white beam spectrum and energy-resolved neutron imaging. Neutron transmission spectra available at the latter modality can be used for the extraction of certain material characteristics, such as microstructure and elemental composition, usually not accessible for the analysis of images integrated over the entire neutron spectrum. Distribution of water within the sample, however, can be reconstructed from both types of neutron imaging methods. The results of present study indicate that the accuracy of water mapping appeared to be comparable within the 2%–4% error in our experiments dominated by non-optimized calibration of background signal. The accuracy of water thickness reconstruction was verified with a calibration step wedge sample for both imaging modalities. We also demonstrate the applicability of this technique for the studies of water absorptivity and porosity of ancient Roman concrete samples extracted from Cosa and Portus Traiani sites. These reconstruction methods are not only limited to quantification of water or hydrogen containing substances, but can be implemented to any other material with relatively high neutron attenuation.

Non-destructive mapping of water distribution through white-beam and energy-resolved neutron imaging

Tomographic imaging and diffraction measurements were performed on nine pellets; four UN/ U Si composite formulations (two enrichment levels), three pure U3Si5 reference formulations (two enrichment levels) and two reject pellets with visible flaws (to qualify the technique). The U-235 enrichments ranged from 0.2 to 8.8 wt.%. The nitride/silicide composites are candidate compositions for use as Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF). The monophase U3Si5 material was included as a reference. Pellets from the same fabrication batches will be inserted in the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho during 2016. The goal of the Advanced Non-destructive Fuel Examination work package is the development and application of non-destructive neutron imaging and scattering techniques to ceramic and metallic nuclear fuels. Data reported in this report were collected in the LANSCE run cycle that started in September 2015 and ended in March 2016. Data analysis is ongoing; thus, this report provides a preliminary review of the measurements and provides an overview of the characterized samples.

/pdf/non-destructive-examination-of-un-u-si-fuel-pellets-using-2pdna7w2tg.pdf

Non destructive examination of UN / U-Si fuel pellets using neutrons (preliminary assessment)

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6463/ab0aba/pdf

Anton S. Tremsin

Papers

Characterization of a neutron sensitive MCP/Timepix detector for quantitative image analysis at a pulsed neutron source

“Detector walk” in position-sensitive detectors with biased microchannel plates

Non-destructive mapping of water distribution through white-beam and energy-resolved neutron imaging

Non destructive examination of UN / U-Si fuel pellets using neutrons (preliminary assessment)

Three dimensional polarimetric neutron tomography—beyond the phase-wrapping limit