In this dissertation, the design of a system to detect improvised explosive devices is considered. The technique utilized is thermal neutron analysis. In this method, thermal neutrons are used to interrogate a volume for the presence of nitrogen, which is used as an indicator of explosive, given its unusual high energy line in the gamma ray spectrum generated by thermal capture reactions on explosive material. The performance of the system is then considered for a number of devices used to represent an improvised explosive device, including a 155 mm shell, an antitank mine, and a air to surface bomb. The system is shown to be capable of detecting IEDs within between 15.6 and 3800 seconds for HPGe detectors, and within 277 seconds for the best case scenario with NaI while more deeply buried explosives are shown to be undetectable by NaI.
","abstract_html":"<p>In this dissertation, the design of a system to detect improvised explosive devices is considered. The technique utilized is thermal neutron analysis. In this method, thermal neutrons are used to interrogate a volume for the presence of nitrogen, which is used as an indicator of explosive, given its unusual high energy line in the gamma ray spectrum generated by thermal capture reactions on explosive material. The performance of the system is then considered for a number of devices used to represent an improvised explosive device, including a 155 mm shell, an antitank mine, and a air to surface bomb. The system is shown to be capable of detecting IEDs within between 15.6 and 3800 seconds for HPGe detectors, and within 277 seconds for the best case scenario with NaI while more deeply buried explosives are shown to be undetectable by NaI.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Marziale, Matthew David"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Physics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Andrew Hirsch","Marc Caffee","Chan Choi","Jorge Rodriguez"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-03-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-03-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:53:47Z","subjects":["Pure sciences","Device","Explosive","Gamma","IED","Improvised","Spectroscopy","Nuclear","Physics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/676","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Andrew Hirsch","Marc Caffee","Chan Choi","Jorge Rodriguez"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Marziale, Matthew David"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Pure sciences","Device","Explosive","Gamma","IED","Improvised","Spectroscopy","Nuclear","Physics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/676"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this dissertation, the design of a system to detect improvised explosive devices is considered. The technique utilized is thermal neutron analysis. In this method, thermal neutrons are used to interrogate a volume for the presence of nitrogen, which is used as an indicator of explosive, given its unusual high energy line in the gamma ray spectrum generated by thermal capture reactions on explosive material. The performance of the system is then considered for a number of devices used to represent an improvised explosive device, including a 155 mm shell, an antitank mine, and a air to surface bomb. The system is shown to be capable of detecting IEDs within between 15.6 and 3800 seconds for HPGe detectors, and within 277 seconds for the best case scenario with NaI while more deeply buried explosives are shown to be undetectable by NaI.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Thermal neutron analysis for improvised explosive device detection"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Andrew Hirsch","Marc Caffee","Chan Choi","Jorge Rodriguez"],"dc:creator":["Marziale, Matthew David"],"dc:description.abstract":["In this dissertation, the design of a system to detect improvised explosive devices is considered. The technique utilized is thermal neutron analysis. In this method, thermal neutrons are used to interrogate a volume for the presence of nitrogen, which is used as an indicator of explosive, given its unusual high energy line in the gamma ray spectrum generated by thermal capture reactions on explosive material. The performance of the system is then considered for a number of devices used to represent an improvised explosive device, including a 155 mm shell, an antitank mine, and a air to surface bomb. The system is shown to be capable of detecting IEDs within between 15.6 and 3800 seconds for HPGe detectors, and within 277 seconds for the best case scenario with NaI while more deeply buried explosives are shown to be undetectable by NaI.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/676"],"dc:subject":["Pure sciences","Device","Explosive","Gamma","IED","Improvised","Spectroscopy","Nuclear","Physics"],"dc:title":["Thermal neutron analysis for improvised explosive device detection"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Physics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:53:47Z"}