Design and Performance of a Thermal Neutron Imaging Facility at the North Carolina State University PULSTAR Reactor

Mishra, Kaushal; Hawari, Ayman I.; Gillette, V.H.

doi:10.1109/tns.2006.884323

Cited by 31 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The initial design of the imaging facility located at the NCSU PULSTAR reactor was optimized for conventional radiography [6]. This design does not confirm with the phase contrast imaging requirements.…”

Section: B Design Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Phase contrast neutron imaging at a medium intensity neutron source

Mishra

Hawari

2009

2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)

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Neutron Imaging is a technique for the nondestructive testing (NDT) of materials. It is characterized by its sensitivity to materials composed of low atomic number (Z) elements such as hydrogen. Enhancement of the spatial resolution and the contrast of the obtained images are primary objectives that are continuously being pursued in the development of this technique. An approach of improving the contrast at the material edges of a sample is non-interferometric phase contrast neutron imaging, which has been demonstrated at the start of this decade. Since then it has been performed at multiple facilities located at high flux neutron sources. However, due to its physical requirements (e.g., the use of pinhole apertures), the applicability of this technique remains primarily limited to such high flux facilities. Consequently, to expand its utilization in NDT applications, its performance at low and medium intensity neutron sources, that are available around the globe, should be explored. In this work, the feasibility of performing phase contrast neutron imaging at the North Carolina State University PULSTAR reactor was studied. The 1-MW PULSTAR represents a prototypical medium flux neutron source. It is demonstrated that phase contrast imaging can be successfully implemented if careful attention is given to tailoring the neutron beam with the objective of maximizing the thermal neutron flux (and content) while minimizing the gamma-ray and fast neutron noise. Results are presented of imaging exercises demonstrating the phase contrast concept using a Fuji BAS-NDG image plate detector.

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Section: B Design Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Phase contrast neutron imaging at a medium intensity neutron source

Mishra

Hawari

2009

2009 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record (NSS/MIC)

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“…To produce a thermal neutron beam from a nuclear reactor, single crystals of Si, Al 2 O 3 , or Bi are often used as neutron filters [5,6]. A high-performance thermal neutron beam for neutron radiography using the Al 2 O 3 sapphire crystal filter has been designed and developed at the PULSTAR reactor [7]. In our experimental studies ©2023 Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology of neutron capture reaction (n, γ), the activated nuclei with the exited state as its biding energy are considered to be produced.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and simulation of a thermal neutron beam for neutron capture studies at the Dalat research reactor

Tu¹,

Dang

Ngoc³

et al. 2023

Comm. in Phys.

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This paper presents the application of the MCNP5 code to conduct a modification design and simulation of a thermal neutron beam for neutron capture studies at the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR). The designed configuration of the horizontal neutron channel No.2 at the DNRR, which contains a conical collimator of 240.3 cm in length, and neutron filters of crystal Al2O3 and Bi with alternative thickness, were simulated. A pure thermal neutron beam can be obtained at the irradiation position when a composition of crystal filter of 20 cm Al2O3 and 6 cm Bi is employed. The thermal and epithermal neutron fluxes are 1.02´108 n/cm2/s (account for 97.92% of total neutron flux) and 0.22´107 n/cm2/s (account for 2.08% of total neutron flux), respectively.

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“…The image quality possible at a given facility is highly dependent on the geometry of the facility's beamline [1]. An appropriate neutron beam for NR must have the maximum thermal neutron intensity and uniformity with the lowest gamma contamination at the image plane [2]. The neutron beams from the research reactors and the spallation neutron sources are extensively and successfully used for NR [3][4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The quality assessment of radial and tangential neutron radiography beamlines of TRR

et al. 2017

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A: To achieve a quality neutron radiographic image in a relatively short exposure time, the neutron radiography beam must be of good quality and relatively high neutron flux. Characterization of a neutron radiography beam, such as determination of the image quality and the neutron flux, is vital for producing quality radiographic images and also provides a means to compare the quality of different neutron radiography facilities. This paper provides a characterization of the radial and tangential neutron radiography beamlines at the Tehran research reactor. This work includes determination of the facilities category according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards, and also uses the gold foils to determine the neutron beam flux. The radial neutron beam is a Category I neutron radiography facility, the highest possible quality level according to the ASTM. The tangential beam is a Category IV neutron radiography facility. Gold foil activation experiments show that the measured neutron flux for radial beamline with length-to-diameter ratio (L/D) = 150 is 6.1 × 10 6 n cm −2 s −1 and for tangential beamline with (L/D)= 115 is 2.4 × 10 4 n cm −2 s −1 . K : Neutron radiography; Neutron sources 1Corresponding author.

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Design and Performance of a Thermal Neutron Imaging Facility at the North Carolina State University PULSTAR Reactor

Cited by 31 publications

References 14 publications

Phase contrast neutron imaging at a medium intensity neutron source

Phase contrast neutron imaging at a medium intensity neutron source

Design and simulation of a thermal neutron beam for neutron capture studies at the Dalat research reactor

The quality assessment of radial and tangential neutron radiography beamlines of TRR

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