METHOD & DEVICE FOR NONDESTRUCTIVE INSPECTION OF NIOBIUM TO IMPROVE SUPERCONDUCTIVITY

A NONDESTRUCTIVE TEST DEVICE WILL BE DEVELOPED TO INSPECT NIOBIUM PLATES AND NIOBIUM WELDS FOR DEFECTS WHICH CAUSE ITS SUPERCONDUCTING PROPERTIES TO BE QUENCHED. HIGH QUALITY NIOBIUM IS REQUIRED FOR ADVANCED MACHINES SUCH AS FUTURE GENERATION RADIO FREQUENCY PARTICLE ACCELERATORS. AT PRESENT, THERE IS NO ESTABLISHED TECHNIQUE FOR LOCATING AND DIFFERENTIATING THE TYPES OF DEFECTS CRITICAL TO SUPERCONDUCTION. THE FEASIBILITY OF ACOUSTIC MICROSCOPY WILL BE INVESTIGATED FOR LOCATING CRITICAL SIZE DEFECTS ( ), AND DIFFERENTIATING CRITICAL FROM NONCRITICAL DEFECTS. AN INITIAL LIBRARY OF TYPICAL FLAW CHARACTERISTICS WILL BE ESTABLISHED AND THIS WILL BE COMPARED WITH THEORETICAL EXPECTATIONS. THE FEASIBILITY OF AUTOMATIC RECOGNITION OF FLAWS BY COMPUTER BASED IMAGE PROCESSING WILL ALSO BE ESTABLISHED. THIS STUDY IS A PREREQUISITE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATIC INSPECTION PROCESSES FOR USE BY GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY TO ASSURE THE QUALITY OF HIGH RELIABILITY MATERIALS.