Assessment of imaging performance for metal alloys of the first Italian neutron imaging beamline NICHE (Pavia, Italy)

In this paper, the imaging capabilities and performance of the new neutron imaging beamline developed at the LENA facility of Pavia (Italy) in the framework of the NICHE project (Neutron Imaging in Cultural HEritage) are presented. For this purpose, the estimation of bronze and brass alloys attenuation coefficient has been obtained through imaging analysis of a set of Cu-based alloy reference samples produced ad-hoc with chemical composition similar to ancient artefacts. In addition, some samples were realised using a different cooling ramp in order to test the influence of the alloy production procedures in neutron attenuation. Moreover, the tomographic capabilities of the beamline were tested for different metallic and plastic materials.