MOISTURE AND DENSITY MEASUREMENTS IN SOILS AND OTHER MATERIALS BY THE NUCLEAR METHOD

Journal Article · Mon May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1961 · Nondestructive Testing

OSTI ID:4006130

Templeman, J R

The nuclear moisture test method consists of exposing a material containing moisture to a source of hign energy neutrons. The neutrons will collide with the hydrogen nuclei and lose kinetic energy with each collision. After many collisions the resultant slow neutron may be detected with a properly located slow neutron detector. There is a well defined linear relationship between the number of slow neutrons and the moisture content of the material. A similar relationship is found between the wet density material and the number of scattered or transmitted gamma rays. These techniques are applied to moisture and density measurements in soils and have resulted in the development of a rapid routine method which is having an important impact in the soil science, civil engineering, industrial and construction fields. It is now possible to make continuous measurements on fluids, slurries and conveyored solids with industrial process control equipment that utilize the same nuclear principles. Water content and density can be controlled on a wide variety of industrial materials allowing better uniformity to be achieved in an economical manner. (auth)

• Research Organization: Nuclear-Chicago Corp., Des Plaines, Ill.
• NSA Number: NSA-15-019331
• OSTI ID: 4006130
• Journal Information: Nondestructive Testing, Journal Name: Nondestructive Testing Vol. Vol: 19
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

CHEMISTRY
CONTROL
DENSITY
FLUIDS
HUMIDITY
HYDROGEN
MEASURED VALUES
NEUTRON DETECTION
NEUTRON SOURCES
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
RADIOCHEMISTRY
SLURRIES
SOILS
WATER