Investigation of microstructure in additive manufactured Inconel 625 by spatially resolved neutron transmission spectroscopy

Tremsin, A. S.*; Gao, Y.*; Dial, L. C.*; Grazzi, F.*; Shinohara, Takenao   

Non-destructive testing techniques based on neutron imaging and diffraction can provide information on the internal structure of relatively thick metal samples (up to several cm), which are opaque to other conventional non-destructive methods. Spatially resolved neutron transmission spectroscopy is an extension of traditional neutron radiography, where multiple images are acquired simultaneously, each corresponding to a narrow range of energy. The analysis of transmission spectra enables studies of bulk microstructures at the spatial resolution comparable to the detector pixel. In this study we demonstrate the possibility of imaging (with about 100 m resolution) distribution of some microstructure properties, such as residual strain, texture, voids and impurities in Inconel 625 samples manufactured with an additive manufacturing method called direct metal laser melting (DMLM).