Chalk River Laboratories

About: Chalk River Laboratories is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Neutron diffraction & Neutron scattering. The organization has 2297 authors who have published 2700 publications receiving 73287 citations.

Transmit-receive eddy current probes for circumferential cracks in heat exchanger tubes

Abstract: Conventional eddy current bobbin probes are known to be ineffectual in detecting circumferential cracks in tubing. Multi-pancake and/or rotating pancake probes are required to detect circumferential cracks. It has recently been demonstrated in CANDU steam generator tubes, with deformation, ferromagnetic deposits, and copper deposits, that multi-channel probes with transmit-receive (T/R) coils are superior to those using surface impedance coils. Unlike rotating probes, the design of a new probe denoted as C3 permits fast, single-scan inspection of a full-length tube at inspection speeds comparable to conventional bobbin probes. Since 1992, the probe has been used routinely for steam generator in-service inspection at 4 CANDU plants. Defective tubes have been plugged and the units returned to service, and they continue to operate without leaks. This paper describes the basic features of T/R surface probes. Two-dimensional voltage diagrams showing computer-derived probe response to frequency, lift-off, carbon steel supports, magnetite deposits and copper deposits are presented and compared with corresponding signals from impedance coils. Theoretical and experimental results show that T/R probes are able to detect defects in the presence of variable lift-off (due to tube-wall deformation) with ten times the signal-to-noise ratio as that exhibited by comparable pancake-type impedance probes. In addition, T/R more » probes are less sensitive to magnetite deposits, and possess good phase discrimination to internal defects. « less

Effect of texture on acoustic emission produced by slip and twinning in AZ31B magnesium alloy—part II: clustering and neural network analysis

Abstract: The mechanical behaviour of extruded AZ31B magnesium alloy with two different textures was studied. Acoustic emission (AE) was used to record the signals to detect the various deformation processes occurring during the mechanical test. Hierarchical clustering and Kohonen's self-organising neural network map were used to process the data from AE and to develop a relationship in terms of the deformation modes. The signals produced from the two different deformation mechanisms (i.e. slip and twinning) were successfully identified. The developed method could be efficiently used for the classification of AE data.

A gas ion source for continuous-flow AMS

Abstract: The first gas-fed ion source for radiocarbon AMS applications (without sputtering) has been operated at the Woods Hole NOSAMS Facility. A three-year, off-line test program resulted in positive carbon ion currents up to 1 mA and negative ion currents up to 80 µA. Recently, the compact, permanent-magnet microwave plasma ion source and magnesium vapor charge-exchange canal were coupled to the recombinator injector of the 2.5 MV Tandetron. When the ion source was operated on CO_2 at a flow rate of about 200 µ1 per minute, negative carbon ion beams up to 20 µA were obtained, at an energy of 35 keV. Radiocarbon measurements were performed on standard reference gases and the dynamic response to square-wave pulses of gas was determined. Time constants in the ion source are less than 1 s, which should allow analysis of chromatographic peaks of CO_2 with very little broadening. A combustion device has been constructed to generate CO_2 for direct injection into the source. Argon carrier gas is used to buffer the pressure at one atmosphere in the sample gas injector. A dedicated ion-beam injector, with higher angular acceptance and higher transmitted currents, is being constructed for the AMS system.

Selective resonant ionization of zirconium isotopes using intermediate-state alignment

Abstract: High selectivity (g10) for separation of $^{91}\mathrm{Zr}$ from other Zr isotopes was observed during triple resonant ionization of Zr vapors. Linearly polarized lasers were used to prepare aligned states, from which further excitation to a presently discovered J=0 level could be suppressed for even-mass isotopes, by a suitable choice of relative laser polarization. Photoionization of the odd-mass isotope $^{91}\mathrm{Zr}$ could be retained by use of transitions with relatively strong hyperfine interactions, because of associated population redistributions in the magnetic sublevels. The dependence of the even-mass-isotope signals on relative laser polarization followed sinusoidal forms, which are in excellent agreement with predictions derived using only geometric components of the transition dipole moment. The isotopic selectivity for $^{91}\mathrm{Zr}$ can be increased by use of saturating fluences, because of the effects of saturation, population trapping in the even-mass isotopes and strong hyperfine interactions in the odd-mass isotopes. For the same reasons, biases in even:odd isotope ratio measurements cannot always be eliminated by polarization scrambling or magic angles.