[5B4] The use of muon tomography for structural integrity and ground remediation and characterisation
L Thompson and C Steer
Geoptic Infrastructure Investigations Ltd, UK
Muon tomography is a technique that harnesses naturally occurring cosmic radiation, specifically muons, to provide information on density contrasts in objects and/or locations that are otherwise difficult to access. Muon tomography exploits the significant flux (typically 1000 per square metre per minute) of high-energy muons that are produced in the Earth’s atmosphere. Importantly, muons are highly penetrating particles capable of penetrating many hundreds of metres of rock and are preferentially absorbed by denser material. This, in a process similar in principle to an X-ray, muons are able to return information on density changes in an overburden.
The application of muon tomography in non-destructive testing presents several distinct advantages over other, traditional techniques: it operates non-invasively, enables continuous data collection, can potentially image large volumes and provides sensitivity to density variations that might indicate structural changes or anomalies. As such, it is a powerful and relevant technique that can deliver both unique and complementary (to other techniques) data.
The presentation will focus on two application areas of muon tomography pioneered by Geoptic, a UK company spin-out from three UK universities.
The first is a programme of work carried out over the past five years with Network Rail that uses muon tomography to locate, identify and characterise hidden shafts in railway tunnels on the UK rail network. The presentation will describe the technique, from digital twin to final tomographic image, and will discuss the track-deployable instruments used. The second will summarise a lengthy report commissioned by the International Atomic Energy Agency that assesses the use of muon tomography in safety and safeguarding of deep underground geological repositories. Limits on the detection of karsts and voids in the geosphere, as well as sensitivity to fault zones and other features, will be presented.
Finally, the presentation will also discuss other applications of muon tomography that the authors believe muon tomography can address; these include, for example, structural integrity monitoring in tunnels, ground remediation and characterisation and structural defect determination in concrete structures.
The application of muon tomography in non-destructive testing presents several distinct advantages over other, traditional techniques: it operates non-invasively, enables continuous data collection, can potentially image large volumes and provides sensitivity to density variations that might indicate structural changes or anomalies. As such, it is a powerful and relevant technique that can deliver both unique and complementary (to other techniques) data.
The presentation will focus on two application areas of muon tomography pioneered by Geoptic, a UK company spin-out from three UK universities.
The first is a programme of work carried out over the past five years with Network Rail that uses muon tomography to locate, identify and characterise hidden shafts in railway tunnels on the UK rail network. The presentation will describe the technique, from digital twin to final tomographic image, and will discuss the track-deployable instruments used. The second will summarise a lengthy report commissioned by the International Atomic Energy Agency that assesses the use of muon tomography in safety and safeguarding of deep underground geological repositories. Limits on the detection of karsts and voids in the geosphere, as well as sensitivity to fault zones and other features, will be presented.
Finally, the presentation will also discuss other applications of muon tomography that the authors believe muon tomography can address; these include, for example, structural integrity monitoring in tunnels, ground remediation and characterisation and structural defect determination in concrete structures.
