TOMSK, Oct 14 – RIA Tomsk. A young scientist of Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) Artem Prima will conduct a series of experiments at Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China to develop diagnostics of radiation defects in materials for the space and nuclear industries under conditions of intense irradiation, the researcher himself told RIA Tomsk.
As the university’s press service previously reported, TPU annually holds a competition among postgraduate students for the “PLUS” scholarship (P.L.U.S.) - it is designed to conduct research at the leading world scientific and scientific-educational organizations. Prima became a scholarship holder of the 2019 competition and will go on a six-month internship to China in 2020.
“TPU and DUT have been cooperating for a long time. I was in Dalian twice in 2018. They have a particle accelerator, which was assembled in TPU, and we are actively working on it (Tomsk and Chinese scientists). From January to July 2020, I will conduct research at DUT on the thermal imaging diagnostics of fast radiation defects", - Prima said.
Thermal imaging diagnostics - is one of the types of non-destructive testing of various materials. According to the scientist, it allows to carry out tests in conditions of intensive radiation. This is necessary for the nuclear and other industries.
“In order to develop new technologies for the production of materials resistant to intensive radiation (for example, space and nuclear industries), an operational method is needed that works under intensive radiation. Thermal imaging diagnostics of radiation processes are among these methods”, - the interlocutor of the agency said.
He added that his study consists of two main parts: formation of radiation defects in structural materials and diagnosis of these radiation defects: "There is a lot of work to be done, statistics need to be collected".
Imperfect analogues
Currently, according to Prima, there are various diagnostic methods. For example, an electron microscope: a study is carried out in real time when irradiated with an electron or continuous ion beam. However, this method does not allow investigating the formation of radiation defects during intense irradiation - in nuclear reactors or in space. In addition, it is quite expensive and requires complex preparation.
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Another option - is the use methods with preliminary irradiation of samples. But with it scientists do not get what they need. "The method does not allow the study of the behavior of structural materials under the influence of radiation in real time", - says Prima.
There are also methods of numerical modeling. “It’s cheap and cheerful, but should be checked experimentally. And if we talk about thermal imaging diagnostics, it allows us to observe in real time the main mechanisms responsible for migration and annealing of defects. It also has a low cost compared to other methods”, - explains the postgraduate student.
Prima also added that during the internship he plans to conduct experiments when samples are irradiated with various charged particles, investigate the cooling process of various materials and analyze the data obtained. In the future, this work will be used to develop diagnostics of radiation defects under conditions of intense irradiation.
For reference: as reported on the TPU website, in addition to Dalian University of Technology, among the partners for postgraduate studies under the "P.L.U.S." scholarship there are also University of Lisbon (Portugal), Chemnitz University of Technology (Germany), University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (Czech Republic), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel). According to the results of the 2019 competition, five postgraduate students received the scholarship.