CYCLOTRON ACCELERATED BEAMS APPLIED IN WEAR AND CORROSION STUDIES

Wear and corrosion processes are characterized by a loss of material t hat is, for machine parts and components, usually in a micrometer's ra nge. That is why, in the last two decades, many direct applications in machine construction, petrochemical and metallurgical industries base d on the Thin Layer Activation (TLA) technique have been developed. In this paper general working patterns together with a few examples of T LA applications carried out using our laboratory's U-120 Cyclotron are presented. The relation between the counting rate of the radiation or iginating from the component's irradiated zone and the loss of the wor n material can be determined mainly by two methods: the oil circulatio n method and the remnant radioactivity measuring method. The first met hod is illustrated with some typical examples such as the optimization of the running-in program of a diesel engine and anti-wear features c ertifying of lubricant oils. There is also presented an example where the second method mentioned above has been applied to corrosion rate d eterminations for different kinds of unoxidable steels used in inert g as generator construction.