A. N. Chumakov

Hydrogen analysis of zircaloy tube used in nuclear power station using laser plasma technique

It is shown that remarkable improvements essential to a quantitative spectrochemical analysis of hydrogen emissions from the zircaloy samples were achieved when the low-pressure surrounding air used in the previous experiment of Nd-YAG laser-induced shockwave plasma was replaced by an inert gas. Using the high-purity (99.999%) nitrogen gas at 1.5 Torr, a linear calibration curve of the HI 656.2 nm emission line was obtained with a zero intercept from the zircaloy samples prepared with various hydrogen concentrations. Further, when the surrounding nitrogen gas was replaced by a helium gas, more than an order of magnitude enhancement was obtained on the signal-to-noise ratio, yielding a detection limit of less than 5 ppm.

Toward quantitative deuterium analysis with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy using atmospheric-pressure helium gas

An experimental study has been carried out for the development of quantitative deuterium analysis using the neodymium doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) with atmospheric pressure surrounding He gas by exploring the appropriate experimental condition and special sample cleaning technique. The result demonstrates the achievement of a full resolution between the D and H emission lines from zircaloy-4 samples, which is prerequisite for the desired quantitative analysis. Further, a linear calibration line with zero intercept was obtained for the emission intensity of deuterium from a number of zircaloy samples doped with predetermined concentrations of deuterium. The result is obtained by setting a +4 mm defocusing position for the laser beam, 6 μs detection gating time, and 7 mm imaging position of the plasma for the detection, which is combined with a special procedure of repeated laser cleaning of the samples. This study has thus provided the basis for the development ...

Multipulse nanosecond laser modification of steel surface

Results of surface modification are presented for MnNiCrMo-steel samples exposed to a Nd:YAG laser operating in a pulse-periodic mode (10 Hz frequency, 532 nm wavelength and 17 ns pulse duration). The steel samples were irradiated in air by a series of laser pulses at a fluence of 10.7 J cm−2 close to a plasma formation threshold. Surface structures were examined by optical, scanning electron and confocal optical microscopy. The appearance of the detected surface structures strongly depends on the number of laser pulses and power density of laser radiation. Significant differences were found between laser-induced structures in the center of the laser spot, at its edges and in the nearest surrounding of the laser spot. The reasons for such differences are discussed.