Phoenix Neutron Imaging | Phoenix LLC Secures Long-Term Partnership with Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company to Bolster National Defense, Energy and Space Supply Chain

Phoenix LLC Secures Long-Term Partnership with Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company to Bolster National Defense, Energy and Space Supply Chain

Cutting-edge technology provides reliable, high-quality nondestructive testing of mission-critical components for the energetics customer base in the U.S.

FITCHBURG, Wis., June 30, 2023 – Phoenix LLC, an industry leader in neutron imaging for nondestructive testing, today announced an agreement with Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company (PacSci EMC), one of the largest manufacturers of pyrotechnic and energetic products in the U.S. The partnership not only grows Phoenix’s overall imaging volume, but it has the potential to extend the company’s services to the west coast, modernizing and strengthening the supply chain for partners in the defense and aerospace industries.

Neutron imaging, or neutron radiography, is a nondestructive testing technique that identifies critical flaws, defects or damage in mission-critical, high-consequence-of-failure components across the aerospace, defense and energy markets. Neutron imaging has historically relied on nuclear reactors, but thanks to new technology developed by research into fusion, Phoenix is able to deliver the same high-resolution image quality without the need for a reactor.

PacSci EMC’s products ensure the proper initiation, sequencing and functioning of aircraft safety systems, including emergency escape systems for catastrophic events – all of which require neutron inspection for quality assurance.

“Partnering with Phoenix means we will have a reliable source for neutron imaging now and into the future as Phoenix expands its facilities to the West Coast,” said Corey Christmann, President of PacSci EMC. 

The agreement secures a long-term partnership focused on increasing neutron imaging service capacity and availability for PacSci EMC and its customer base, reinforcing Phoenix as the premier supplier of neutron imaging services for energetic devices used for a variety of applications in aerospace and defense across the country.

“We are excited to expand our neutron imaging technology and make it more accessible to the customers that need it most,” said Tom D’Orazio, CEO of Phoenix. “Our Phoenix team has proven that our technology can deliver the image quality and reliability to meet the growing needs of our customers, and we are eager to bring our innovative solutions to so many current and future partners.”

The Phoenix Imaging Center in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, is one of the only sites in the world to offer production-scale, high-quality neutron radiography. And it is the only commercial source that can support the market growth by deploying additional facilities with significantly fewer economical and regulatory burdens than aging nuclear research reactors.

“We’re proud to have proven our capabilities at our hub in the Midwest and now are eager to increase our services,” D’Orazio said. “This will not only grow the imaging capacity for the entire industry, but it also really improves the security of the supply chain. Imaging is a critical quality control function, and our partners will be able to supply their customers – including many that are heavily involved with national security – more efficiently than ever before.”

Phoenix, like SHINE Technologies, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Illuminated Holdings.

About Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company LLC (PacSci EMC)

PacSci EMC provides pyrotechnic and energetic material devices and integrated systems that operate on command, when commanded – down to the millisecond. The safe and reliable operation of our products drives us from development, design and testing to manufacturing and final assembly. From critical systems such as aircraft emergency safety systems to flight termination systems on rockets, our components can be found throughout the world. Our innovations in environmentally conscious energetic materials along with our propulsion and sequencing systems are a result of over 65 years of experience working for customers in commercial aerospace, oil and gas, military, and space.

About Phoenix LLC

Phoenix is an industry leader in neutron imaging, a critical tool for nondestructive testing in aerospace, defense, health care and other industries. This testing helps manufacturers design better, more efficient, safer products, and provides quality assurance and failure analysis. Located in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, the Phoenix Neutron Imaging Center is the first facility of its kind to offer commercial neutron imaging services and radiation effects testing without the use of a nuclear reactor. Phoenix LLC, SHINE Technologies LLC, and SHINE Europe B.V. are all wholly owned subsidiaries of Illuminated Holdings, Inc.

Contact:

Eric Schmoldt

ericschmoldt@shinefusion.com

Katie Rittenhouse

katierittenhouse@phoenixwi.com

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The X-ray image (left) cannot clearly depict the cooling channels in a batch of blades; however, the channels show up more clearly in a neutron image of the same batch (right).

Aircraft Turbine Blades X-Ray/Neutron Imaging Comparison

The manufacturing of jet engine turbine blades is one particular industrial niche for neutron radiography. Turbine blades are cast around ceramic molds which form cooling channels that prevent the blades from melting when exposed to the high temperatures of their operating environments. In manufacturing, fragments of ceramic can clog these cooling channels. A blade with clogged cooling channels could break or even melt while in operation, so such flaws must be rooted out with 100% certainty. The X-ray image (left) cannot clearly depict the cooling channels in a batch of blades; however, the channels show up much clearer in a neutron image of the same batch (right).

gadolinium tagging

This cross section of a turbine blade shows off one of the most useful and unique applications of industrial neutron radiography. The only way to reliably detect the ceramic fragments which can be left within a blade’s cooling channels is to wash the blade in a solution containing gadolinium, an element with a high neutron cross section. Once the gadolinium has permeated the ceramic’s porous structure, the fragments will show up in stark contrast on the resulting neutron image even after the solution has been rinsed off of the rest of the blade.

Beretta 92FS Neutron/X-Ray Imaging Comparison

Neutron radiography is especially useful for imaging munitions. In this neutron image, neutrons interact with parts within the firearm and show details that a high-energy x-ray would not depict, even the presence and position of gunpowder in the cartridge.

170kV X-ray imaging

440kV X-ray imaging

Neutron imaging

Rotary Telephone X-Ray/Neutron Imaging Comparison

X-rays and neutrons interact with materials differently, creating unique images. This rotary phone is comprised of many dense and light materials. The lower-energy 170 kV X-rays could not penetrate the denser materials of the phone. The higher-energy 440 kV X-rays could penetrate the denser materials, but was too high-energy to create an image of the lighter materials. The neutron beam could penetrate dense materials but not light materials, creating neutron radiograph that shows more detail of the phone’s inner workings than either X-ray image could on its own. The difference in how neutrons interact with light materials is what makes neutron radiography such a powerful complementary tool to X-ray radiography in materials science, materials research. and non-destructive testing applications.

Flower Neutron Images

Flowers tend to show up very distinctly on both neutron and X-ray images. However, water has a very high neutron scattering cross section, which makes neutron radiography and tomography useful for studying water uptake within root systems and rooted soil.

60kV X-ray imaging

140kV X-ray imaging

200kV X-ray imaging

Neutron imaging

Hand Plane X-Ray/Neutron Imaging Comparison

With examples such as this hand plane, it’s “plane” to see how neutron radiography and neutron images can show you details that can’t be seen with X-ray radiography. These three X-ray radiographs of varying energies, looked at as a whole, all together show almost as many details as a single neutron picture!

Welding flux on a copper plate (photo)

Welding flux on a copper plate (X-ray)

Welding flux on a copper plate (neutron image)

Welding Flux X-Ray/Neutron Imaging Comparison

Like gadolinium, boron has an extremely large neutron cross section that makes it useful as a contrast agent in neutron imaging, among other things. In this example, welding flux, which contains large quantities of borax, attenuates neutrons particularly well compared to metals such as copper. This makes neutron imaging useful for assessing the quality of welds and making certain that undesirable remnants of flux do not remain on a welded part.

MORE ON boron's neutron contrast properties

An X-Ray image of the fuel injector structures.

An N-Ray image of the fuel injector structures.

The X-ray images (top and center) miss important details regarding the fuel injectors’ structure. The N-ray image (bottom), on the other hand, offers more detail than either X-ray image alone.

Fuel Injector X-Ray/Neutron Imaging Comparison

As with the images of the rotary phone, these fuel injectors depict the differences between high and low energy X-ray images as well as neutron imaging. The image taken with 100 kV X-rays misses important details regarding the fuel injectors’ structures because the X-rays cannot easily penetrate the dense outer layers of material. However, the image taken with 190 kV X-rays also misses important details because while the X-rays can pass more easily through the denser material, they also pass too easily through the lighter material as well. Neutron imaging, on the other hand, offers more detail than either of the X-ray radiography images on their own.

In particular, two of the fuel injectors have been clogged with contaminants (we used ketchup, butter, and mustard), which show up as white blockages in the plugs in the neutron image and do not show up at all in the X-ray images. This shows the value of neutron radiography and tomography in rooting out defective parts and other non-destructive testing applications!

INTERACTIVE N-RAY/X-RAY COMPARISON

Click and drag on the vertical line to compare X-ray radiography and neutron radiography images. One advantage neutron imaging methods offer over the X-ray images is that details that did not show up on either the high-energy or low-energy X-rays, such as blockages within the fuel injectors, are visible.

225kV X-ray image

400kV X-ray image

Neutron image

Proxivision Ball Bearings X-Ray/Neutron Imaging Comparison

Click and drag on the vertical line to compare X-ray and neutron images.

Neutron Imaging of Hard Disk Drives

Because of the way neutron beams pass easily through dense metal components, the neutron image of the 3.5″ hard disk drive on the left mainly shows the less dense plastic components of the hard drive’s internal structure. the 2.5″ external hard drive on the right is entirely encased in a plastic shell which is more opaque, but not entirely opaque, to the neutron beam.

INTERACTIVE N-RAY/X-RAY COMPARISON

Click and drag on the vertical line to compare X-ray and neutron imaging. To neutron tomography, most of the metal components of the hard disk drive, such as the faceplate, the read/write heads, and the disks themselves, are completely transparent, allowing a clearer look at some components that are not as visible, if at all, in the neutron radiograph compared to the X-ray image.

We’re batty for neutron radiography at Phoenix!

Unlike X-rays, neutrons are attenuated heavily by flesh and muscle, giving a unique perspective to the radiographic image of these bat specimens. That is one of several reasons why your dentist probably isn’t interested in shooting neutron radiation at your teeth during your dental check-up.

Neutron Radiography of Consumer Electronics

Neutron radiography can provide an interesting look into consumer electronics. As in the hard drive images, the plastic tends to be more opaque to neutrons in the neutron beam than most of the electronic components, providing a unique view of the structures of these items.

Photograph

X-ray image

Neutron image

Personal Safe X-Ray/Neutron Imaging Comparison

Your secrets aren’t safe from X-ray vision or neutron vision, but both forms of radiography show quite different perspectives in these images. Plastic components, which are rich in hydrogen, are particularly opaque on the neutron images but much more transparent on the X-ray images due to the high neutron attenuation of plastics and other hydrogen compounds. A closeup of the Honeywell safe shows that neutron imaging could even pick up on the details of the embossed logo on the door to the safe!

Flashlight X-Ray/Neutron Imaging Comparison

Both neutron radiography and X-ray radiography can offer distinct advantages over each other. In these images, both depict unique features of the flashlight in question. Phoenix is currently working on imaging methods to seamlessly combine the data from X-ray and neutron imaging together into hybrid images, which would allow for an unparalleled look into an object’s inner working for cases in which both X-ray radiography and neutron radiography provide indispensable data.

*N-ray image on top. X-ray image on the bottom.

Neutron Radiography of a Jar of Staples

Click and drag on the vertical line to compare X-ray and neutron imaging. For a rather offbeat comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of X-ray and neutron imaging, we filled a glass jar with staples and a single plastic figurine. In the X-ray image, only the staples are visible. With neutron imaging, the staples are far less visible, but the figurine hidden within is entirely visible as the neutrons interact more heavily with the plastic.

Phoenix LLC Secures Long-Term Partnership with Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company to Bolster National Defense, Energy and Space Supply Chain