Advanced algorithms for radiographic material discrimination and inspection system design

Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2016.07.013· OSTI ID:1333437

Gilbert, Andrew J.; McDonald, Benjamin S.; Deinert, Mark R.

X-ray and neutron radiography are powerful tools for non-invasively inspecting the interior of objects. Materials can be discriminated by noting how the radiographic signal changes with variations in the input spectrum or inspection mode. However, current methods are limited in their ability to differentiate when multiple materials are present, especially within large and complex objects. With X-ray radiography, the inability to distinguish materials of a similar atomic number is especially problematic. To overcome these critical limitations, we augmented our existing inverse problem framework with two important expansions: 1) adapting the previous methodology for use with multi-modal radiography and energy-integrating detectors, and 2) applying the Cramer-Rao lower bound to select an optimal set of inspection modes for a given application a priori. Adding these expanded capabilities to our algorithmic framework with adaptive regularization, we observed improved discrimination between high-Z materials, specifically plutonium and tungsten. The combined system can estimate plutonium mass within our simulated system to within 1%. Three types of inspection modes were modeled: multi-endpoint X-ray radiography alone; in combination with neutron radiography using deuterium-deuterium (DD); or in combination with neutron radiography using deuterium-tritium (DT) sources.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1333437
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-113690; DN4001010
• Journal Information: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Journal Name: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section B, Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms Vol. 385; ISSN 0168-583X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

X-ray radiography
inverse problems
material discrimination
neutron radiography