Materials Science and Engineering
Abstract
The science-based stockpile stewardship program emphasizes a better understanding of how complex components function through advanced computer calculations. Many of the problem areas are in the behavior of materials making up the equipment. The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) can contribute to solving these problems by providing diagnostic tools to examine parts noninvasively and by providing the experimental tools to understand material behavior in terms of both the atomic structure and the microstructure. Advanced computer codes need experimental information on material behavior in response to stress, temperature, and pressure as input, and they need benchmarking experiments to test the model predictions for the finished part.