Abstract
A fast (10 min) non-destructive determination of copper in. steel and cast iron by 14-MeV neutron activation analysis is described. The 0.511-MeV annihilation radiation of 62Cu ( T 1/2=9.8 min), induced by the reaction 63Cu(n,2n) 62Cu, is counted by two opposing NaI(Tl) detectors operating in coincidence. An oxygen flux monitor is used to normalise the irradiations. For high phosphorus contents, two measurements are made and the 9-min activity contribution is calculated. As the iron content of the samples is known, the use of pure iron samples allows correction for 53Fe activity from the reaction 54Fe(n,2n) 53Fe( T 1/2= 8.9 min). When the phosphorus and silicon activities are low, the procedure of counting and computing can be greatly simplified. Nuclear interferences of most common alloying and impurity elements were investigated.The precision is 2–3% for steels containing above 1% Cu, and Ca. 10% for 0.1%Cu.
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