On the usage of a neutron source to determine the density distribution in compacted cemented carbide powder compounds.

Density variations in pressed powder materials are of substantial importance and will affect shrinkage and geometry after sintering. It is therefore important to accurately measure this quantity in green bodies. This is emphasised by the fact that the density variation can be used for determining material properties in constitutive mechanical models of compaction. An obvious method to determine the density variation is X-ray tomography. For cemented carbides this is not a possible alternative due to the very high X-ray absorption of tungsten making the samples impossible to penetrate. Neutron radiation has a much higher penetration and this suggests that a neutron source could be used for density distribution determination in such materials. This was investigated currently showing promising results when compared with finite element predictions. It is clear that this approach must be improved to be able to use neutron radiation as a tool for density determination. Improvements are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]