A multi-wavelength, high-contrast contact radiography system for the study of low-density aerogel foams

Y P Opachich; J A Koch; M J Haugh; E Romano; J J Lee; E Huffman; F A Weber; J W Bowers; L R Benedetti; M Wilson; S T Prisbrey; C E Wehrenberg; T F Baumann; J M Lenhardt; A Cook; A Arsenlis; H-S Park; B A Remington

doi:10.1063/1.4958826

A multi-wavelength, high-contrast contact radiography system for the study of low-density aerogel foams

Rev Sci Instrum. 2016 Jul;87(7):073706. doi: 10.1063/1.4958826.

Authors

Y P Opachich¹, J A Koch¹, M J Haugh¹, E Romano¹, J J Lee¹, E Huffman¹, F A Weber¹, J W Bowers¹, L R Benedetti², M Wilson², S T Prisbrey², C E Wehrenberg², T F Baumann², J M Lenhardt², A Cook², A Arsenlis², H-S Park², B A Remington²

Affiliations

¹ National Security Technologies, LLC, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
² Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.

PMID: 27475564
DOI: 10.1063/1.4958826

Abstract

A multi-wavelength, high contrast contact radiography system has been developed to characterize density variations in ultra-low density aerogel foams. These foams are used to generate a ramped pressure drive in materials strength experiments at the National Ignition Facility and require precision characterization in order to reduce errors in measurements. The system was used to characterize density variations in carbon and silicon based aerogels to ∼10.3% accuracy with ∼30 μm spatial resolution. The system description, performance, and measurement results collected using a 17.8 mg/cc carbon based JX-6 (C20H30) aerogel are discussed in this manuscript.