Non-destructive mapping of water distribution through white-beam and energy-resolved neutron imaging

Tremsin, A. S.*; 篠原 武尚; 及川 健一; Li, J.*; Monteiro, P. J. M.*

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 927, p.174 - 183, 2019/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2019.02.037

In this study we compare the accuracy of water thickness reconstruction from two types of neutron imaging experiments: neutron radiography with a white beam spectrum and energy-resolved neutron imaging. The results of present study indicate that the accuracy of water mapping appeared to be comparable within the 2% - 4% error in our experiments dominated by non-optimized calibration of background signal. The accuracy of water thickness reconstruction was verified with a calibration step wedge sample for both imaging modalities. We also demonstrate the applicability of this technique for the studies of water absorptivity and porosity of ancient Roman concrete samples extracted from Cosa and Portus Traiani sites. These reconstruction methods are not only limited to quantification of water or hydrogencontaining substances, but can be implemented to any other material with relatively high neutron attenuation.