Probing metal solidification nondestructively
(Phys.org) —Los Alamos researchers and collaborators have used nondestructive imaging techniques to study the solidification of metal alloy samples. The team used complementary methods of proton radiography at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) and synchrotron x-ray radiography at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to make the measurements. This is the first time that high-energy protons have been used to nondestructively image a large metal sample during melting and solidification. Understanding the link between processing and structure is important because structure profoundly affects the properties and performance of engineering materials. Such real-time imaging could provide the insight needed to control the microstructure of metals and lead to advanced manufacturing processes to produce materials with desired properties. Scientific Reports published the research.