White Beam Neutron Radiography / Tomography
Neutron Imaging and Digital Tomography: radiographic imaging techniques generally allow the creation of digital data sets related to the morphology and composition of complex objects. Specifically, radiography consists of measuring the intensity of neutrons that pass through a sample, obtaining information on the density, the relationship between the parts and the internal morphology in a similar way to X-ray Radiography. With neutrons, however, it is also possible to analyse significant thicknesses (of the order of centimetres) of heavy materials such as metals. By combining various radiographs at different orientations, a neutron tomography of the artefacts can be obtained. The possibility of having a reconstruction of the entire volume of the object, makes every constitutive and microstructural detail virtually explorable, and can be an essential tool for investigating the manufacturing methods and determining the conservation state. Starting from the projection data, it is also possible to reconstruct by software a 3D model of the entire volume of the object, providing conservators with a highly informative and intuitive tool to use.