Physics Procedia最新文献

The spatial-dependent lattice spacing and microstructure of an α-iron plate with two notches was measured during tensile tests using a pulsed neutron transmission method to ascertain changes depending on the load. Changes in microstructural parameters such as macrostrain, microstrain, crystallite size and texture are interesting during the transition from the elastic to plastic deformation region, especially over a relatively wide field of view to see propagation of the change. The method has the capability to show changes in the position-dependence of microstructural information simultaneously over a wide area in the bulk material. Transmission spectra around the Bragg-edge regions of the neutron total cross section of α-iron were obtained, and the microstructural parameters, {110} plane spacing and its distribution, texture coefficient and crystallite size were analyzed. The spatial-dependent distributions (images) of these parameters show sample shape effects including strain concentration around the notches and the effect of dislocations being multiplied during the plastic deformation. The spatial dependence of the microstructural parameters visualized herein provides useful information for evaluating the inhomogeneous progress of deformation of the bulk engineering material.

The methodology and the application range of neutron imaging techniques have been significantly improved at numerous facilities worldwide in the last decades. This progress has been achieved by new detector systems, the setup of dedicated, optimized and flexible beam lines and the much better understanding of the complete imaging process thanks to complementary simulations. Furthermore, new applications and research topics were found and implemented.

However, since the quality and the number of neutron imaging facilities depend much on the access to suitable beam ports, there is still an enormous potential to implement state-of-the-art neutron imaging techniques at many more facilities. On the one hand, there are prominent and powerful sources which do not intend/accept the implementation of neutron imaging techniques due to the priorities set for neutron scattering and irradiation techniques exclusively. On the other hand, there are modern and useful devices which remain under-utilized and have either not the capacity or not the know-how to develop attractive user programs and/or industrial partnerships. In this overview of the international status of neutron imaging facilities, we will specify details about the current situation.

The theoretical and experimental curves of temperature dependence of transmitting the light by electro-optic element based on the RKTP crystal are presented. The temperature dependence of contrast ratio of electro-optic Q-switches assembled by different technologies is represented. Also the results of mechanical properties of EO Q-switches tested on climatic influence are shown.

Formation of channel optical waveguides due to the sequential point-to-point exposure of local stripe-like regions of Y-cut lithium niobate sample surface is experimentally investigated. The surface layer of the sample is thermally doped with Cu ions to increase its photorefractive sensitivity. The laser radiation with wavelength of 532 nm and optical power of 10 mW is used for the crystal exposure in experiments. The optical inhomogeneities formed during the sample exposure are studied with their probing by laser beams with wavelength of 633 nm.

We developed a neutron detector with submicron spatial resolution by incorporating ⁶Li into a fine-grained nuclear emulsion. Upon exposure to thermal neutrons, tracks from neutron capture events were observed. The detector spatial resolution was estimated from their grain density. Detection efficiency was measured using the detector response to cold neutrons.

The Texas A&M Cyclotron Institute (TAMU CI) has had an NSF funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates program since 2004. Each summer about a dozen students from across the country join us for the 10-week program. They are each imbedded in one of the research groups of the TAMU CI and given their own research project. While the main focus of their effort is their individual research project, we also have other activities to broaden their experience. For instance, one of those activities has been involvement in a dedicated group experiment. Because not every experimental group will run during those 10 weeks and the fact that some of the students are in theory research groups, a group research experience allows everyone to actually be involved in an experiment using the accelerator. In stark contrast to the REU students’ very focused experience during the summer, Texas A&M undergraduates can be involved in research projects at the Cyclotron throughout the year, often for multiple years. This extended exposure enables Texas A&M students to have a learning experience that cannot be duplicated without a local accelerator. The motivation for the REU program was to share this accelerator experience with students who do not have that opportunity at their home institution.

The World Conference on Neutron Radiography (WCNR) and International Topical Meeting on Neutron Radiography (ITMNR) series have been running over 35 years. The most recent event, ITMNR-8, focused on industrial applications and was the first time this series was hosted in China. In China, more than twenty new nuclear power plants are under construction and plans have been announced to increase the nuclear capacity by a factor of three within fifteen years. There are additional prospects in many other nations. Neutron tests were vital during previous developments of materials and components for nuclear power applications, as reported in the WCNR and ITMNR conference series. For example a majority of the 140 papers in the Proceedings of the First WCNR are for the benefit of the nuclear power industry. Many of those techniques are being utilized and advanced to the present time. Neutron radiography of irradiated nuclear fuel provides more comprehensive information about the internal condition of irradiated nuclear fuel than any other non-destructive technique to date. Applications include examination of nuclear waste, nuclear fuels, cladding, control elements, and other critical components. In this paper, applications of neutron radiography techniques developed and applied internationally for the nuclear power industry since the earliest years are reviewed, and the question is asked whether neutron test techniques, in general, can be of value in development of the present and future generations of nuclear power plants world-wide.

Additive technologies, which obtained the wide spreading in the last decade, allow producing items of any shape from metal materials practically without additional mechanical treatment. This approach based on the layer by layer melting of powder material accordingly to the premade 3D-CAD model, provides the geometrical accuracy which mostly depends on the size of the used material. In the present study, as material a 410 L steel powder was chosen, for which the basic dependencies between the selective laser melting (SLM) parameters and the mechanical properties were determined. Trial batches of standard samples for uniaxial tension and impact strength tests (according to the ASTM A370 and ASTM E8 M standards) were produced. It was shown that in the as build (after SLM) the fracture appeared to be brittle with the impact strength 3-5 J/cm². The carried out heat treatment of quenching-tempering cycle and subsequent tests provide the viscous fracture and evaluation of impact strength up to 20-30 J/cm². Presumably, this is due to a refinement of the grain structure and the inner stresses reduction of the samples, which also acknowledges the execution EBSD analysis, which points to the presence of quenched and tempered martensite. The presence of high inner stresses can be attributed to two α-γ-α transformations that were revealed by dilatometry investigation. In the range of cooling or heating rates from 1 to 500 °C/s temperatures of phase transformation are shifted.

The effect of electrostatic field on optical properties of silicate nanocomposite with cadmium sulfide quantum dots was investigated. It was found that the electrostatic field causes quantum dot orientation along the field force lines leading to changes in the polarized components of the luminescence spectrum. The influence of field force line direction on photoinduced absorption characteristics arised from λ = 405.9 nm laser radiation exposure to nanocomposite was shown.

Based the China Mianyang Research Reactor (CMRR) and D-T accelerator neutron source, thermal neutron, cold neutron and fast neutron imaging facilities are all installed at China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP). Various samples have been imaged by different energy neutrons and shown the neutron imaging application in industry, aerospace and so on. The facilities parameters and recent neutron imaging development will be shown in this paper.