INL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Nondestructive Evaluation Coatings

Corrosion

Fracture and Mechanical Testing

High Temperature Mechanical 

Properties

Hydrogen Production and Storage 

Materials

Hydrogen Separation Materials

Irradiation

Materials Validation

Microstructure and Physical Properties

Modeling

Neutron Radiography

Nondestructive Evaluation

Post-irradiation Examination

Synthesis and Processing of Novel 

Materials

Welding and Joining

X-Ray Radiography

Capabilities/Facilities

Pulsed laser acoustic 

generation, 

interferomet-ric detection (Fabry Pérot, Michelson, 

Sagnac, photorefractive); 

picosecond acoustic facility. 

Noncontacting laser acoustic examination performed 

down-hole at the Advance 

Test Reactorʼs Gamma Tube; 

photon-induced positron annihilation volumetric and nearsurface detection of thermal, 

fatigue, creep, and neutron 

and hydrogen embrittlement 

damage at the Idaho Accelerator Center and with portable 

systems at INL. 

Materials

High purity metals and alloys, 

reactor steels, cladding and 

advanced materials such as 

nickel superalloys.

Scientific/Engineering 

Issues

Acoustic interaction with 

material microstructure, 

thin corrosive films and 

lithographic nanostructures; 

current damage and long-term 

life remaining assessments 

for materials and components 

subjected to a range of damage mechanisms based on 

measurements performed at 

any point in life (precrack); 

modeling and probability of 

failure estimates (Weibull 

distributions).

Staff

K.L. Telschow, D.H. Hurley, J.B. Walter, D.L. Cottle, 

R.S. Schley, and D.W. Akers.

Recent Projects

• Elastic Wave Interaction 

with Grain Boundaries on 

a Microscopic Scale, DOE 

Office of Basic Energy 

Sciences, $570K/year

• Laser Ultrasonic Corrosion Monitor, LaboratoryDirected Research and 

Development, $217K/year

• Shot Peening, Fatigue, and 

Thermomechanical Damage in Nickel Superalloys, 

National Science Foundation, $100K/year

Collaborations

• Bechtel Bettis

• Johns Hopkins University

• Hokkaido University

• Idaho State University/

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

• Materials characterization 

for numerous customers

Publications

“Ultrasonic Imaging of 

Subsurface Objects Using 

Continued on back

False color image of grains in 

copper sample.

Surface acoustic wave interaction with a grain boundary. In collaboration with the Applied Solid State 

Physics Laboratory at Hokkaido University, we recently developed a technique to image high frequency 

surface acoustic waves (~1 GHz) as they propagate across grain boundaries. Measuring linear properties 

such as reflection and refraction, as well as nonlinear properties such as harmonic content, provides a 

means to characterize in-situ changes in material microstructure.

Simulation without grain 

boundary.

Interferometric image.

Grain

boundary Grain

boundary

location

Area of interest

<8,1,10> <8,6,10>

<8,1,10>

200 μm x 200 μm 200 μm x 200 μm

1 mm x 1 mm
INL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

05-GA50193-34

Continued from front

Photorefractive Dynamic 

Holography,” V.A. Deason, 

K.L. Telschow, S. Watson, 

Proceedings of the SPIE, The 

International Society for Optical Engineering, Vol. 4448, 

p. 153, 2001. 

“UHF Acoustic Microscopic Imaging of Resonator Motion,” K.L. Telschow, 

V.A. Deason, D.L. Cottle, 

J.D. Larson, III, 2000 IEEE 

Ultrasonics Symposium, 

Proceedings, An International 

Symposium, Oct. 22-25, 2000, 

San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

“Containerless Photothermal 

Spectroscopy Using Photorefractive Interferometric 

Detection,” R.S. Schley, K.L. 

Telschow, Optical Engineering, Vol. 41, no. 7, p. 1688, 

2002.

“Containerless Photoacoustic 

Spectroscopy Using Photorefractive Interferometry,” 

R.S. Schley, K.L. Telschow, 

Proceedings of the SPIE, The 

International Society for Optical Engineering, Vol. 4205, 

p. 18, 2001. 

“Static and Dynamic TwoWave Mixing in GaAs,” 

R.S. Schley, K.L. Telschow, 

J. Holland, Applied Optics,

Vol. 39, no. 24, p. 4348, 2000.

“Full-Field Imaging of 

Acoustic Motion at Nanosecond Time and Micron Length 

Scales,” K.L. Telschow, 

V.A. Deason, D.L. Cottle, 

2002 IEEE International 

Ultrasonics Symposium, 

October 8-11, 2002, Munich, 

Germany.

“Imaging Laser Ultrasonics 

Measurement of the Elastodynamic Properties of Paper,” 

K.L. Telschow, V.A. Deason, 

2001 IEEE Ultrasonics 

Symposium Proceedings, an 

International Symposium, 

October 7-10, 2001, Atlanta, 

Georgia.

“Off-Axis Propagation of 

Ultrasonic Guided Waves 

in Thin Orthotropic Layers: Theoretical Analysis 

and Dynamic Holographic 

Imaging Measurement,” 

O.M. Mukdadi, S.K. Datta, 

K.L. Telschow, V.A. Deason,

IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and 

Frequency Control, Vol. 48, 

no. 6, p. 1581, 2001.

“Direct Observation of 

Carbon-Decorated Defects 

in Fatigued Type 304 Stainless Steel,” P. Asoka-Kumar, 

J.H. Hartley, R.H. Howell, P.A. Sterne, D. Akers, 

V. Shah, A. Denison, Acta 

Materiala, Vol. 50, no. 7, 

p. 1761, 2002.

 “Picosecond Surface Acoustic Waves Using a Suboptical Wavelength Absorption 

Grating,” D.H. Hurley, 

K.L. Telschow, Physical Review B, Vol. 66, Brief Reports 

153301, 2002.

“Probing Acoustic Nonlinearity on Length-Scales Comparable to Material Grain 

Dimensions,” D.H. Hurley, 

K.L. Telschow, D. Cottle, 

Ultrasonics, Vol. 40, p. 617, 

2002.

For more information

INL is a U.S. Department of Energy 

national laboratory operated by 

Battelle Energy Alliance

Richard N. Wright, Ph.D.

(208) 526-6127

Richard.Wright@inl.gov

Douglas C. Crawford, Ph.D.

(208) 533-7456

Douglas.Crawford@inl.gov

www.inl.gov/envenergyscience/materials