Beyond the Surface: Non-Invasively Revealing Hidden Composition in Bronze Heritage Artefacts through Neutron Tomography and Gamma Spectroscopy
Y. Li (TU Delft - RST/Neutron and Positron Methods in Materials)
C. Pappas – Promotor (TU Delft - RST/Neutron and Positron Methods in Materials)
L. van Eijck – Copromotor (TU Delft - RST/Neutron and Positron Methods in Materials)
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Abstract
This thesis proposes an insightful experimental strategy for performing gamma spectroscopy (GS) following neutron tomography (NT), making full use of the otherwise wasted radioactivity induced during neutron irradiation to non-destructively extract valuable information on the interior elemental composition of bulk cultural heritage artefacts. To realise this strategy in practice, the thesis implements the fusion of NT and delayed GS data, addressing the challenge of accurately and efficiently quantifying interior compositions. The main objectives were to overcome the analytical difficulties of accurately correcting for the self-attenuation effects of both neutrons and gamma rays as well as to break through the computational barriers posed by iterative methods that rely on large-scale simulations. Through the progressive development of three complementary methods, this work establishes a comprehensive and scalable foundation for the quantitative fusion of NT and GS datasets, advancing the practical use of this NT-GS data-fusion method in cultural heritage investigations.
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