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Mechanical Properties of Photomultiplier Tube Glasses for Neutrino Detection
Author(s) -
Dongol Ruhil,
Chambliss Kameron,
Sundaram Shanmugavelayutham K.,
Diwan Milind V.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of applied glass science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.383
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 2041-1294
pISSN - 2041-1286
DOI - 10.1111/ijag.12140
Subject(s) - photomultiplier , neutrino , materials science , flexural strength , cherenkov radiation , composite material , optics , physics , nuclear physics , detector
Photomultiplier tubes ( PMT ) are one of the primary components of water Cherenkov neutrino detection for the Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment ( LBNE ). Thousands of 10‐ to 12‐inch diameter PMT bulbs are placed in the inner wall of a detection tank or a reservoir (e.g., deep mine) filled with 10,000 gallons of high purity water with a resistivity of 11–18.24 MΩ‐cm. Long‐term service of PMT s is vital to the success of neutrino detection projects. We report our results of our investigation on mechanical properties of PMT glasses from two vendors and the effect of ion exchange on their mechanical strength. Vickers indentation, four‐point bend test, and ring‐on‐ring biaxial flexural strength test were used for evaluation of the mechanical strength. Chemical (potassium–sodium ion exchange) strengthening results show increased strength of 46% in one vendor glass and a 57% increase in the other, with no significant reduction in optical transmission in the ultraviolet‐visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum that is critical to neutrino detection. Our results also show narrowing of the distribution of strength calculated using Weibull statistics with chemical strengthening for comparable exchange depths of 22–28 μm.