The highly transient nature of shock loading and pronounced microstructure effects on dynamic materials response call for in situ, temporally and spatially resolved, x-ray-based diagnostics. Third-generation synchrotron x-ray sources are advantageous for x-ray phase contrast imaging (PCI) and diffraction under dynamic loading, due to their high photon fluxes, high coherency, and high pulse repetition rates. The feasibility of bulk-scale gas gun shock experiments with dynamic x-ray PCI and diffraction measurements was investigated at the beamline 32ID-B of the Advanced Photon Source. The x-ray beam characteristics, experimental setup, x-ray diagnostics, and static and dynamic test results are described. We demonstrate ultrafast, multiframe, single-pulse PCI measurements with unprecedented temporal (<100 ps) and spatial (∼2 μm) resolutions for bulk-scale shock experiments, as well as single-pulse dynamic Laue diffraction. The results not only substantiate the potential of synchrotron-based experiments for addressing a variety of shock physics problems, but also allow us to identify the technical challenges related to image detection, x-ray source, and dynamic loading.

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We developed a 64 channel flexible polyimide ECoG electrode array and characterized its performance for long term implantation, chronic cortical recording and high resolution mapping of surface evoked potentials in awake rats. To achieve the longest possible recording periods, the flexibility of the electrode array, adhesion between the metals and carrier substrate, and biocompatibility was critical for maintaining the signal integrity. Experimental testing of thin film adhesion was applied to a gold – polyimide system in order to characterize relative interfacial fracture energies for several different adhesion layers, yielding an increase in overall device reliability. We tested several different adhesion techniques including: gold alone without an adhesion layer, titanium-tungsten, tantalum and chromium. We found the titanium-tungsten to be a suitable adhesion layer considering the biocompatibility requirements as well as stability and delamination resistance. While chromium and tantalum produced stronger gold adhesion, concerns over biocompatibility of these materials require further testing. We implanted the polyimide ECoG electrode arrays through a slit made in the skull of rats and recorded cortical surface evoked responses. The arrays performed reliably over a period of at least 100 days and signals compared well with traditional screw electrodes, with better high frequency response characteristics. Since the ultimate goal of chronically implanted electrode arrays is for neural prosthetic devices that need to last many decades, other adhesion layers that would prove safe for implantation may be tested in the same way in order to improve the device reliability.

The FY 2003 risk assessment (RA) (Mann et al. 2003) of bulk vitrification (BV) waste packages used 0.3 wt% of the technetium (Tc) inventory as a leachable salt and found it sufficient to create a significant peak in the groundwater concentration in a 100-meter down-gradient well. Although this peak met regulatory limits, considering uncertainty in the actual Tc salt fraction, peak concentrations could exceed the maximum concentration limit (MCL) under some scenarios so reducing the leachable salt inventory is desirable.

Abstract

Understanding the dynamic response of materials at extreme conditions requires diagnostics that can provide real-time, in situ, spatially resolved measurements on the nanosecond timescale. The development of methods such as phase contrast imaging (PCI) typically used at synchrotron sources offer unique opportunities to examine dynamic material response. In this work, we report ultrafast, high-resolution, dynamic PCI measurements of shock compressed materials with 3 μm spatial resolution using a single 60 ps synchrotron X-ray bunch. These results firmly establish the use of PCI to examine dynamic phenomena at ns to μs timescales

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When new explosives are synthesized and developed, handling sensitivity must be measured in a consistent way to dictate safety protocols. Drop-weight impact tests, which represent explosive material sensitivity with the drop height required for a sample to react with 50% probability, are the most common method for understanding and quantifying explosive sensitivity. However, results from impact tests are influenced not only by the explosive material tested but also by the testing conditions and experimental setup. Examples of these testing conditions are the laboratory where the test was performed, the methods for choosing drop height levels and computing sensitivity, and whether grit paper was used to promote the initiation of reactions. We compile a historical data set with over 450 impact test results of the explosive standard pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) from 1959 to 2020. We model the sensitivity of PETN as a function of the test laboratory, the test method, and the use of grit paper and find that all have a significant effect on the measured sensitivity of PETN. We validate the predictions from the fitted model with several new impact tests performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory.