PEMS Seminars
Everyone welcome !
Seminars will occur on the last Thursday of each month at 3.30pm. They will be in SL1 in 2010 unless otherwise advertised. A link to the 2009 PEMS Seminars is provided for those who are interested in last year's program.
Thursday 8 April 2010, LT6
Presenter: Professor Les Bennett, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, RMC Canada and Visiting Fellow, Department of Aviation, UNSW
Title: Neutron Radiography on the SLOWPOKE-2 at the Royal Military College of Canada – Application to Flight Control Surfaces
At the Royal Military College of Canada, a SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear research reactor is available for teaching and research. It is the smallest critical reactor in operation, but has a very useable neutron flux of 1 x 1012 n cm-2 s-1 at a maximum power level of 20 kW (thermal). A neutron beam tube has been installed alongside the reactor container in the vertical reactor pool for neutron radioscopy. The main advantage of this nondestructive testing technique is the ability to image hydrogen-containing materials.
The main application of neutron radioscopy has been the inspection of the flight control surfaces of the CF-18 Hornet aircraft of the Canadian air force, which is also flown by the RAAF. These components have suffered from water ingress into their honeycomb structures. Various nondestructive testing techniques were employed to obtain information and were compared. Then, neutron radioscopy was used to determine the amount of water ingress and then to develop a non-invasive means of removal. The next step is to evaluate the structural integrity of each flight control surface before refitting them on the aircraft.
Hans Riesen
Research Coordinator
School of PEMS
UNSW@ADFA
email: h.riesen@adfa.edu.au
phone: 6268 8679