Characterization of an Innovative Detector Based on Scintillating Fiber for Personalized Computed Tomography Dosimetry

For technical and radioprotection reasons, it has become essential to develop new dosimetric tools adapted to the specificities of computed tomography (CT) to ensure precise and efficient dosimetry since the current standards are not suitable for clinical use and for new CT technological evolution. Thanks to its many advantages, plastic scintillating fibers (PSF) is a good candidate for more accurate and personalized real-time dosimetry in computed tomography, and the company Fibermetrix has developed a new device named IVISCAN® based on this technology. In this study, we evaluated performances of IVISCAN® and associated uncertainties in terms of dose-rate dependence, angular dependence, stability with cumulative dose, repeatability, energy dependence, length dependence, and special uniformity in reference and clinical computed tomography beam qualities. For repeatability, the standard deviation is less than 0.039%, and the absolute uncertainty of repeatability lies between 0.017% and 0.025%. The deviation between IVISCAN® and the reference regarding energy dependence is less than 1.88% in clinical use. Dose rate dependence results show a maximum deviation under ±2%. Angular dependence standard deviation σ is 0.8%, and the absolute uncertainty was 1.6%. We observed 1% of variation every 50 Gy steps up to a cumulative dose of 500 Gy. Probe response was found to be independent of the PSF length with a maximum deviation < 2.7% between the IVISCAN® probe and the 1 cm PSF probe. The presented results demonstrated that IVISCAN® performances are in accordance with metrology references and the international standard IEC61674 relative to dosemeters used in X-ray diagnostic imaging and then make it an ideal candidate for real-time dosimetry in CT applications.

Novel 2D strain-rate-dependent lamina-based and RVE/phase-based progressive fatigue damage criteria for randomly loaded multi-layer fiber-reinforced composites

Two implicit progressive fatigue damage models that rely on new equivalent-damage and equivalent-stress criteria are presented for the prediction of various failure modes of the composites. The criteria are coupled with lamina-based and representative-volume-element-based damage progression approaches. The common concepts of residual strength and residual stiffness are revisited and modified. A fatigue life assessment algorithm that incorporates the strain-rate-dependence of the fatigue strengths and stiffnesses, and random and asynchronous changes of the stress components, distinct mean values, and phase shifts of the stress components is employed. New ideas and new post-processing procedures are employed in the current research. It is the first time that the significant impacts of the strain-rate-dependence of the properties of the composites on stress and fatigue life analyses are investigated. Results of the proposed fatigue criteria are first implemented to a composite plate with a complex lamination scheme under a random transverse load and the predicted fatigue lives are verified by the experimental results. Then, these criteria are implemented to a composite chassis frame of an SUV car under realistic random road inputs and the theoretical results are verified by the experimental results. Results confirm the significant role of the strain-rate-dependence effects on the fatigue lives.