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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

A multi-technique analysis of deuterium trapping and near-surface precipitate growth in plasma-exposed tungsten

In this work, we examine how deuterium becomes trapped in plasma-exposed tungsten and forms near-surface platelet-shaped precipitates. How these bubbles nucleate and grow, as well as the amount of deuterium trapped within, is crucial for interpreting the experimental database. Here, we use a combined experimental/theoretical approach to provide further insight into the underlying physics. With the Tritium Plasma Experiment, we exposed a series of ITER-grade tungsten samples to high flux D plasmas (up to 1.5 × 10{sup 22 }m{sup −2} s{sup −1}) at temperatures ranging between 103 and 554 °C. Retention of deuterium trapped in the bulk, assessed through thermal desorption spectrometry, reached a maximum at 230 °C and diminished rapidly thereafter for T > 300 °C. Post-mortem examination of the surfaces revealed non-uniform growth of bubbles ranging in diameter between 1 and 10 μm over the surface with a clear correlation with grain boundaries. Electron back-scattering diffraction maps over a large area of the surface confirmed this dependence; grains containing bubbles were aligned with a preferred slip vector along the <111> directions. Focused ion beam profiles suggest that these bubbles nucleated as platelets at depths of 200 nm–1 μm beneath the surface and grew as a result of expansion of sub-surface cracks. To estimate the amount of deuterium trapped in these defects relative to other sites within the material, we applied a continuum-scale treatment of hydrogen isotope precipitation. In addition, we propose a straightforward model of near-surface platelet expansion that reproduces bubble sizes consistent with our measurements. For the tungsten microstructure considered here, we find that bubbles would only weakly affect migration of D into the material, perhaps explaining why deep trapping was observed in prior studies with plasma-exposed neutron-irradiated specimens. We foresee no insurmountable issues that would prevent the theoretical framework developed here from being extended to a broader range of systems where precipitation of insoluble gases in ion beam or plasma-exposed metals is of interest.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Comparative analysis of the effect of low-dimensional alumina structures on cell lines L929 and Neuro-2a

The paper presents the toxicity evaluation of nanostructures on the basis of alumina of different shape (nanofibers, nanoplates, nanosheets, nanosheet agglomerates) and with similar physical and chemical properties (particle size, specific surface area, phase composition, and zeta potential). The nanostructures were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The cytotoxicity of nanostructures was estimated using L929 fibroblast cells and Neuro-2a tumor cells. It has been found that the L929 cells are less subject to the influence of alumina nanoparticles than the Neuro-2a tumor cells. Probably, the differences in the proliferation activity of normal and tumor cells in contact with the synthesized nanostructures are due to a change in the pH of the cell microenvironment.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Experimental investigation and CFD analysis on cross flow in the core of PMR200

The Prismatic Modular Reactor (PMR) is one of the major Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) concepts, which consists of hexagonal prismatic fuel blocks and reflector blocks made of nuclear gradegraphite. However, the shape of the graphite blocks could be easily changed by neutron damage duringthe reactor operation and the shape change can create gaps between the blocks inducing the bypass flow.In the VHTR core, two types of gaps, a vertical gap and a horizontal gap which are called bypass gap and cross gap, respectively, can be formed. The cross gap complicates the flow field in the reactor core by connecting the coolant channel to the bypass gap and it could lead to a loss of effective coolant flow in the fuel blocks. Thus, a cross flow experimental facility was constructed to investigate the cross flow phenomena in the core of the VHTR and a series of experiments were carried out under varying flow rates and gap sizes. The results of the experiments were compared with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis results in order to verify its prediction capability for the cross flow phenomena. Fairly good agreement was seen between experimental results and CFD predictions and the local characteristics of the cross flow was discussed in detail. Based on the calculation results, pressure loss coefficient across the cross gap was evaluated, which is necessary for the thermo-fluid analysis of the VHTR core using a lumped parameter code.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION OF HORIZONTAL BRANCH STARS: METHODS AND FIRST RESULTS

As part of a large project aimed at characterizing the ultraviolet (UV) properties of globular clusters, we present here a theoretical and observational analysis aimed at setting the framework for the determination of horizontal branch (HB) temperature distributions. Indeed this is crucial information needed to understand the physical parameters shaping the HB morphology in globular clusters and to interpret the UV emission from unresolved stellar systems. We found that the use of zero age HB color-T {sub eff} relations is a robust way to derive effective temperatures of individual HB stars. We investigated the most suitable colors for temperature estimates and the effect on the color-T {sub eff} relations of variations of the initial chemical composition and the evolution off the zero age HB. As a test case, we applied our color-T {sub eff} calibrations to the Galactic globular cluster M15. The photometry of M15 has been obtained with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The HB of M15 turned out to have a multimodal distribution, with a main component peaking at T{sub eff} ∼ 8000 K and confined below T{sub eff} ∼ 10,000 K. The second component peaks at T{sub eff} ∼ 14,000 K and extends up to T{sub eff} ∼ 20,000 K. The vast majority ( ∼ 95%) of the HB stars in M15 is below 20,000 K, in agreement with the lack of a well populated extreme HB observed in other metal-poor globular clusters. We also verified that the temperatures derived with our analysis are consistent with spectroscopic estimates available in the literature.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

WE-D-BRA-01: FEATURED PRESENTATION and BEST IN PHYSICS (THERAPY): Predicting Potentially Problematic VMAT Treatment Plans Before Patient Specific QA Measurements

Purpose: Several promising IMRT QA tools have been developed in recent years to combat problems found in the lack of sensitivity in planar dose measurements analyzed using consensus gamma analysis criteria. The increased complexity and added information with such devices adds not only increased time, but new challenges in determining endpoints for pass/fail criteria. Using a large cohort of previously measured planar IMRT QA data, it may be possible to correlate potentially problematic plans with calculated plan metrics that can be done a priori, such that these tools can be used only in clinically relevant situations. Methods: 90 previously measured, clinically delivered VMAT plans were exported in DICOM RT format. Using a Matlab program, plan metrics were computed based on a previously developed set of equations (Du et al. 2014). These metrics included MU-weighted beam irregularity, which quantifies an MLC shape’s deviation from that of a circle. Machine delivery parameters such as MU delivered per degree and leaf movement in millimeters per MU were also calculated. Based on a previous analysis of 394 IMRT QA measurements, a “failing” plan was defined as one with less than 85% gamma pass rate when computed at 1% dose difference and 2 mm distance to agreement; 16 of the 90 plans were identified as failing Results: A ROC curve was generated with an AUC of 0.9409. All 16 outliers were detected with a specificity of 85.1% when using a threshold value based on a linear combination of the MU-weighted plan irregularity and the leaf speed in mm/degree (average MU delivered per degree multiplied by average leaf movement in mm per MU). Conclusion: This data supports that potentially problematic VMAT plans can possibly be predicted before measurement by assessing the MU-weighted irregularity of the MLC shapes combined with the averaged leaf speed of the MLC.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Roles of Mo Surface Dopants in Enhancing the ORR Performance of Octahedral PtNi Nanoparticles

Doping with a transition metal was recently shown to greatly boost the activity and durability of PtNi/C octahedral nanoparticles (NPs) for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), but its specific roles remain unclear. By combining electrochemistry, ex situ and in situ spectroscopic techniques, density functional theory calculations, and a newly developed kinetic Monte Carlo model, we showed that Mo atoms are preferentially located on the vertex and edge sites of Mo–PtNi/C in the form of oxides, which are stable within the wide potential window of the electrochemical cycle. These surface Mo oxides stabilize adjacent Pt sites, hereby stabilizing the octahedral shape enriched with (111) facets, and lead to increased concentration of Ni in subsurface layers where they are protected against acid dissolution. Consequently, the favorable Pt 3 Ni(111) structure for the ORR is stabilized on the surface of PtNi/C NPs in acid against voltage cycling. Significantly, the unusual potential-dependent oxygen coverage trend on Mo-doped PtNi/C NPs as revealed by the surface-sensitive Δμ analysis suggests that the Mo dopants may also improve the ORR kinetics by modifying the coordination environments of Pt atoms on the surface. Lastly, our studies point out a possible way to stabilize the favorable shape and composition established on conceptual catalytic models in practical nanoscale catalysts.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Clean Energy in City Codes: A Baseline Analysis of Municipal Codification across the United States

Municipal governments in the United States are well positioned to influence clean energy (energy efficiency and alternative energy) and transportation technology and strategy implementation within their jurisdictions through planning, programs, and codification. Municipal governments are leveraging planning processes and programs to shape their energy futures. There is limited understanding in the literature related to codification, the primary way that municipal governments enact enforceable policies. The authors fill the gap in the literature by documenting the status of municipal codification of clean energy and transportation across the United States. More directly, we leverage online databases of municipal codes to develop national and state-specific representative samples of municipal governments by population size. Our analysis finds that municipal governments with the authority to set residential building energy codes within their jurisdictions frequently do so. In some cases, communities set codes higher than their respective state governments. Examination of codes across the nation indicates that municipal governments are employing their code as a policy mechanism to address clean energy and transportation.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2017

A general relativistic signature in the galaxy bispectrum: the local effects of observing on the lightcone

Next-generation galaxy surveys will increasingly rely on the galaxy bispectrum to improve cosmological constraints, especially on primordial non-Gaussianity. A key theoretical requirement that remains to be developed is the analysis of general relativistic effects on the bispectrum, which arise from observing galaxies on the past lightcone, as well as from relativistic corrections to the dynamics. As an initial step towards a fully relativistic analysis of the galaxy bispectrum, we compute for the first time the local relativistic lightcone effects on the bispectrum, which come from Doppler and gravitational potential contributions. For the galaxy bispectrum, the problem is much more complex than for the power spectrum, since we need the lightcone corrections at second order. Mode-coupling contributions at second order mean that relativistic corrections can be non-negligible at smaller scales than in the case of the power spectrum. In a primordial Gaussian universe, we show that the local lightcone projection effects for squeezed shapes at z ∼ 1 mean that the bispectrum can differ from the Newtonian prediction by ∼> 10% when the short modes are k ∼< (50 Mpc){sup −1}. These relativistic projection effects, if ignored in the analysis of observations, could be mistaken for primordial non-Gaussianity. For upcoming surveys which probe equality scales and beyond, all relativistic lightcone effects and relativistic dynamical corrections should be included for an accurate measurement of primordial non-Gaussianity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Towards a self-consistent analysis of the anisotropic galaxy two- and three-point correlation functions on large scales: application to mock galaxy catalogues

We establish a practical method for the joint analysis of anisotropic galaxy two- and three-point correlation functions (2PCF and 3PCF, respectively) on the basis of the decomposition formalism of the 3PCF using tripolar spherical harmonics. We perform such an analysis with MultiDark-Patchy mock catalogues to demonstrate and understand the benefit of the anisotropic 3PCF. We focus on scales above $80\, h^{-1}\, {\rm Mpc}$, and use information from the shape and the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) signals of the 2PCF and 3PCF. We also apply density field reconstruction to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of BAO in the 2PCF measurement, but not in the 3PCF measurement. In particular, we study in detail the constraints on the angular diameter distance and the Hubble parameter. We build a model of the bispectrum or 3PCF that includes the non-linear damping of the BAO signal in redshift space. We carefully account for various uncertainties in our analysis including theoretical models of the 3PCF, window function corrections, biases in estimated parameters from the fiducial values, the number of mock realizations to estimate the covariance matrix, and bin size. The joint analysis of the 2PCF and 3PCF monopole and quadrupole components shows a $30{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ and $20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ improvement in Hubble parameter constraints before and after reconstruction of the 2PCF measurements, respectively, compared to the 2PCF analysis alone. Furthermore, this study clearly shows that the anisotropic 3PCF increases cosmological information from galaxy surveys and encourages further development of the modelling of the 3PCF on smaller scales than we consider.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Applying Two-Dimensional Correlation Spectroscopy and Principal Component Analysis to Understand How Temperature Affects the Neptunium(V) Absorption Spectrum

The visible-near infrared (Vis-NIR) electronic absorption spectrum of neptunium(V) (NpO 2 + ) comprises numerous f-f electronic transitions with mostly undocumented temperature dependencies. The effect of temperature on the absorption spectrum of the pentavalent neptunyl dioxocation (NpO 2 + ) is an important factor to consider with spectrophotometric applications but has often been overlooked. Optical Vis-NIR absorption spectra (400–1700 nm) of Np(V) (0.017–0.89 M) in 1 M nitric acid were evaluated with varying temperatures (T = 10–80 °C). The intensity, position, and overall shape of the bands were sensitive to interactions with the solvent and coordination environment. Numerous temperature-induced isosbestic points were identified resulting from dynamic, overlapping peak shifts. Spectral variations were characterized using principal component analysis (PCA) and 2D correlation spectroscopy (COS). 2D-COS revealed that the absorption band near 1095 nm likely consists of two bands centered near 1087 and 1096 nm, which cannot be explained by current computational methods. 2D-COS analysis also provided an unambiguous assignment of unresolved peaks in the visible region for comparison with computational predictions. PCA was used to identify nonlinearity in the spectral response at elevated Np(V) concentrations ≥ 0.5 M. This unique experimental data and interpretation will foster a deeper understanding of the absorption spectra for complex actinyl ions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Study on gas sensing mechanism in p-CuO/n-ZnO heterojunction sensor

Highlights: • Gas adsorption sites can be enhanced by forming ZnO:CuO heterojunction. • Ethanol can access all the surface of sensing materials due to chunk-shaped morphology. • Energy band diagram model is proposed to explain the gas sensing mechanism. - Abstract: This work describes the need of more reactive sites for gas sensing. The formation of heterojunctions may increase the number of reactive sites. With this aim, ZnO:CuO nanoparticles with heterojunction was synthesized by co-precipitation method. XRD measurements on ZnO and ZnO:CuO (90:10) nanoparticles revealed the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO with the signature of CuO phases in ZnO:CuO nanoparticles. The morphological analysis by SEM and TEM showed that the nanoparticles are arranged in such a way to form distorted rod-like structures, which are stacked side by side to give a chunk-shaped morphology. High resolution TEM and Fourier transform infrared analyses revealed the presence of defects in the sample. ZnO:CuO nanoparticles showed high sensitivity toward ethanol, which is associated with the introduction of large number of reactive sites and the formation of heterojunctions with the addition of CuO. The sensing mechanism behind the sensing materials is also proposed using energy band diagrams.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

The quiescent H-mode regime for high performance edge localized mode-stable operation in future burning plasmas

For the first time, DIII-D experiments have achieved stationary quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) operation for many energy confinement times at simultaneous ITER-relevant values of beta, confinement, and safety factor, in an ITER-like shape. QH-mode provides excellent energy confinement, even at very low plasma rotation, while operating without edge localized modes (ELMs) and with strong impurity transport via the benign edge harmonic oscillation (EHO). By tailoring the plasma shape to improve the edge stability, the QH-mode operating space has also been extended to densities exceeding 80% of the Greenwald limit, overcoming the long-standing low-density limit of QH-mode operation. In the theory, the density range over which the plasma encounters the kink-peeling boundary widens as the plasma cross-section shaping is increased, thus increasing the QH-mode density threshold. The DIII-D results are in excellent agreement with these predictions, and nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic analysis of reconstructed QH-mode equilibria shows unstable low n kink-peeling modes growing to a saturated level, consistent with the theoretical picture of the EHO. Furthermore, high density operation in the QH-mode regime has opened a path to a new, previously predicted region of parameter space, named “Super H-mode” because it is characterized by very high pedestals that can be more than a factor of two above the peeling-ballooning stability limit for similar ELMing H-mode discharges at the same density.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Morpho-Hawk

Morpho-Hawk applies projectional mathematical morphology in a fundamentally new way. Morpho-Hawk extracts object information from digital images by filtering with simple geometrical figures such as rectangles or simple curves. Two core algorithms are used to accomplish this: 1) Object Detection and Feature Extraction from Images: Using projectional morphology, Morpho-Hawk finds features of interest within an image, such as contours, shapes, colors, infrared spectra, and more. Because Morpho-Hawk identifies features based on shape or form, the method can uniquely handle different image or object conditions and directions. MorphoHawk can evaluate all possible images of the analyzed scene using the same transformations that are applied just to one image of that scene. Hence, recognizing a defect within an image or part of an image provides information to assist in recognizing other objects in the image. In addition, known background image information can be morphologically subtracted out in order to focus on the appearance or disappearance of the features of interest. 2) Object Analysis: Upon detection of an object of interest, Morpho-Hawk can analyze the object based learned information from prior images or end-user defined criteria for certain object of special interest by selecting feature (e.g., color, size, shape, apparent volume) and/or symbol (e.g., letter, number). The novel algorithm can analyze targeted objects, even as conditions of such as illumination, shadows, and spectral regions change strongly in following images as compared to the original image. This enables robust recognition, interpolation and prediction. As the analysis shows the presence of these features in the optical signal, the algorithm can make a determination based on user defined probability. The object information can be stored for later analysis using simple morphological data compression methods and/or retention of the original optical images.

Glazoff, MichaelV.↗
DOE OSTI2017

2010 August 1–2 Sympathetic Eruptions. II. Magnetic Topology of the MHD Background Field

Using a potential field source-surface (PFSS) model, we recently analyzed the global topology of the background coronal magnetic field for a sequence of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that occurred on 2010 August 1–2. Here we repeat this analysis for the background field reproduced by a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model that incorporates plasma thermodynamics. As for the PFSS model, we find that all three CME source regions contain a coronal hole (CH) that is separated from neighboring CHs by topologically very similar pseudo-streamer structures. However, the two models yield very different results for the size, shape, and flux of the CHs. We find that the helmet-streamer cusp line, which corresponds to a source-surface null line in the PFSS model, is structurally unstable and does not form in the MHD model. Our analysis indicates that, generally, in MHD configurations, this line instead consists of a multiple-null separator passing along the edge of disconnected-flux regions. Some of these regions are transient and may be the origin of the so-called streamer blobs. We show that the core topological structure of such blobs is a three-dimensional “plasmoid” consisting of two conjoined flux ropes of opposite handedness, which connect at a spiral null point of the magnetic field. Our analysis reveals that such plasmoids also appear in pseudo-streamers on much smaller scales. These new insights into the coronal magnetic topology provide some intriguing implications for solar energetic particle events and for the properties of the slow solar wind.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Fabrication of thin-walled tubes from alloy 602 CA using shear assisted processing and extrusion

Thin-walled tube is usually produced seamlessly via an expensive multi-step process or via welding of thin sheets but at reduced performance. To overcome the current process and performance inefficiencies, advanced manufacturing methods need to be investigated. In this investigation, shear assisted processing and extrusion (ShAPE) was used to fabricate thin-walled Inconel 602 tube in a single-step. Tubes measuring 0.83 m length with a 12 mm outer diameter and 1 mm wall thickness were fabricated with an average surface roughness, Ra of 1.6 µm and Rz of 15 µm. Tensile testing of tubes in the as-fabricated condition showed strength increases of 4-35% over current offerings while maintaining or improving elongation. Electron microscopy analysis revealed the recrystallized microstructure with refined inter- and intra-granular carbides. Preliminary results obtained in this investigation shows the feasibility of producing thin-wall high temperature tube in single-step via ShAPE. This achievement marks a significant step towards manufacturing larger diameter nickel alloy tubes for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Signature of 0 + excited state and shape coexistence in 94 Kr through 93 Kr(d,p) 94 Kr reaction

A measurement of the excitation spectrum of 94 Kr via one-neutron transfer to the ground state of 93 Kr using the 93 Kr(d,p) 94 Kr reaction at 8A MeV, observing the outgoing protons, performed with the IRIS facility at TRIUMF is reported. Two states in 94 Kr, at 1.50±0.14 MeV and 2.20±0.14 MeV, were observed. An adiabatic-wave approximation analysis of the differential cross sections leads us to identify the lower energy state as being populated with neutron transfer to the 3 s1/2 orbital. This leads to the first observation of the lowest 0 + excited state in 94 Kr, hence signaling shape co-existence. Theoretical calculations performed within the in-medium similarity renormalization group framework are presented that also show the existence of a low-energy 0 + state, aligning qualitatively with the observation.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

MaNGA galaxy properties – II. A detailed comparison of observed and simulated spiral galaxy scaling relations

ABSTRACT We present a catalogue of dynamical properties for 2368 late-type galaxies from the MaNGA survey. The latter complements the catalogue of photometric properties for the same sample based on deep optical dark energy sky instrument legacy imaging survey (DESI) photometry processed with autoprof . Rotation curves (RCs), extracted by model-fitting H α velocity maps from the MaNGA Data Analysis Pipeline, extend out to 1.4 (1.9) Re for the primary (secondary) MaNGA samples, respectively. The RCs and ancillary MaNGA Pipe3D data products were used to construct various fundamental galaxy scaling relations that are also compared uniformly with similar relations from numerical investigation of a hundred astrophysical object (NIHAO) zoom-in simulations. Simulated NIHAO galaxies were found to broadly reproduce the observed MaNGA galaxy population for $\log (M_*/{\rm {\rm M}_{\odot })\, \gt\, 8.5}$. Some discrepancies remain, such as those pertaining to central stellar densities and the diversity of RCs due to strong feedback schemes. Also presented are spatially resolved scatters for the velocity-size-stellar mass (VRM*) structural relations using MaNGA and NIHAO samples. The scatter for these relations in the galaxian interiors is a consequence of the diversity of inner RC shapes, while scatter in the outskirts is dictated by the large range of stellar surface densities, which is itself driven by sporadic star formation. The detailed, spatially resolved scatter analysis highlights the complex interplay between local and global astrophysical processes and provides a strong constraint to numerical simulations.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2018

Progress Update on Segmentation of Neutron Tomographic Images, 2018

The present report documents the techniques developed to segment fast-neutron tomographic images of objects consisting of assemblies of machined parts with distinct boundaries. This report satisfies the fiscal year 2018 technical deliverable for project OR16-3DTomography-PD3Jb, “3D Tomography and Image Processing Using Fast Neutrons,” to report on the extension of geometric shape-finding algorithms to three dimensions. The project has two overall goals. The first of these goals is to extend associated-particle fast-neutron transmission and, particularly, induced-reaction tomographic imaging algorithms to three dimensions. This aspect of the project is beyond the scope of this report. The second goal is to automatically segment the resultant tomographic images into constituent parts and then extract information about the parts, such as the class of shape and potentially the shape parameters. This report describes progress for the image segmentation part of the project. Imaging techniques have been developed as high-confidence methods for confirming the presence and configuration of special nuclear materials (SNM). This high confidence is achieved at the cost of revealing considerable information that may be undesirable to share with the operator of the equipment. One potential way to make use of the high-confidence of imaging methods without revealing imaging data is to employ automated analysis that can extract meaningful attributes of the SNM without showing imaging data to the operator. An essential step of this automated analysis is the segmentation of the image into its constituent parts. For example, a three-dimensional (3D) fast-neutron tomographic image of an assembly containing uranium could be reconstructed and then segmented into discrete parts. The properties of a constituent part identified as uranium would be of interest and could be extracted. For instance, the volume and density of the part would together determine its mass. Moreover, its shape might be expected to fall into a particular geometric class, such as a cube, cylinder, or sphere, and the parameters of the shape (such as side length, height, or diameter) would be expected to fall in a given range. In such an analysis, automated identification of the boundaries and properties of the uranium part is an essential step. A key goal of the present work is to infer the boundaries of objects in fast-neutron tomographic images via the general method of image segmentation. Development of this capability can be broken into more manageable steps, including 1. operator-guided segmentation of two-dimensional (2D) fast-neutron tomographic images, 2. operator-guided segmentation of 3D fast-neutron tomographic images, 3. development of automated segmentation algorithms, and 4. extraction of shape parameters from constituent volumes in 3D. In the first year, the project team reported progress on the first step. Last year, progress on the second step, the extension into 3D, was reported with application to simulated data. The present report describes additional progress on the second step, and progress toward the third step, automated segmentation algorithms. In particular, a multiphase level set approach for image segmentation in three dimensions has been applied to measured 3D data for the first time. Activities related to the fourth step will also be reported, but it will focus on estimation of 3D volumes rather than shape parameters. In this report, the steps before image segmentation will be described, and the multiphase level sets approach to image segmentation will be briefly reviewed. This will be followed by a discussion of the issues encountered when applying the level set technique to measured 3D transmission images, and then a description of the inclusion of induced-reaction data will be provided. Finally, segmentation results for various measured target assemblies will be presented and the image segmentation portion of this project will be summarized and future directions will be discussed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗