Real-Time Measurement of Material Elastic Properties in a High Gamma Irradiation Environment

This paper describes the first noncontact elastic vibration measurements of an object in a high gamma radiation field. Using a laser-coupled resonant ultrasound technique, the vibration modes of an Inconel hollow capped cylinder were measured as the gamma radiation field was increased to 10⁴ Gy/h. This measurement technique allowed shifts in the resonant frequency of the sample's vibration modes to be tracked over a 170-h period. The vibration mode frequencies changed in a manner consistent with the temperature dependence of the elastic stiffness coefficients of the material. These results demonstrate the efficacy of the laser approach for real-time resonant ultrasound measurements in this severely hostile nuclear environment.