Real-time neutron radiography

Graduation date: 1986A real-time neutron radiography system has been\ud developed at Oregon State University which is capable of\ud producing neutron radiographs of objects and events\ud concurrent with the incident radiation. The purpose of\ud this thesis is to demonstrate the feasibility of the\ud real-time technique as a further application of neutron\ud radiography at OSU. The system has been used to\ud demonstrate the application of real-time techniques to\ud neutron radiography as a method of non-destructive\ud testing. Results of this study showed that the system\ud could produce images of static objects such as\ud ammunition cartridges, and record the motion of the gas\ud phase in two-phase systems.\ud General requirements for a real-time neutron\ud radiography system are discussed, leading to the\ud decisions made in choosing the components for the OSU\ud Real-Time System. Emphasis is placed on the illuminance\ud from the light-producing elements of the system; a\ud method of estimating this illuminance is presented.\ud Procedures for evaluating the performance of the system\ud are also explored.\ud The real-time system has undergone several\ud alterations. Initially designed as a modification to the\ud high-speed motion neutron radiography system, the\ud real-time system uses a television camera to produce\ud radiographic images. The best radiographs were produced\ud using a reactor power level of 350 kilowatts and\ud aligning the equipment so that the object or event\ud maximized the viewing area of the television camera.\ud Results also indicate a reactor power of one megawatt\ud would help improve the resolution of the system