Detection systems for short-time stroboscopic neutron imaging and measurements on a rotating engine

Abstract Today's neutron sources do not deliver sufficient flux to examine singular short-time events in the millisecond range by neutron radiography. However, periodic processes can be examined if a triggered accumulating detector collects information of identical time-windows and positions over several cycles of the process. The same problem applies if the source signal itself carries information, like the energy–time dependence in the pulse of a spallation source. Several possible detection methods were considered; measurements were performed at the intense neutron beam H9 of ILL Grenoble, where an electrically driven BMW engine was examined at 1000 rpm with time resolution of 200 μs.