Dr. Andrew W. Decker Profile

Dr. Andrew W. Decker

Assistant Professor at Air Force Institute of Technology

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Area of Expertise:

X-ray radiography , Neutron radiography , MCNP , Plastic scintillators

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Andrew W. Decker graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2002 with a B.S. in General Psychology. Commissioned as a Military Intelligence officer in the US Army, he served in a variety of staff and leadership positions for the first ten years of his Army career. Following his second deployment to Iraq in 2009, Andrew was selected to become a Functional Area 52 (Nuclear and Countering WMD) officer, and he attended the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) to pursue a M.S. in Nuclear Engineering. Upon graduation from AFIT in 2014, he was assigned to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency with service in the Nuclear Science and Engineering Research Center at West Point, NY. He served there until 2018, at which point Andrew was reassigned to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN where he earned a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering in 2021. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering at AFIT.

Proceedings Article | 3 October 2023 Paper

Dual particle imaging with iridium-bismuth and fast-curing plastic scintillators

A. Decker, J. Manfredi, M. Febbraro, N. Cherepy, S. Hok, P. Hausladen, J. Hayward

Proceedings Volume 12696, 1269608 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2682216

KEYWORDS: X-rays, Plastics, Radiography, Signal to noise ratio, Scintillators, Modulation transfer functions, Composites, X-ray imaging, Detector arrays, Polishing

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Proceedings Article | 1 September 2021 Presentation + Paper

Evaluation of novel bismuth-loaded plastic arrays for fast neutron radiography

A. Decker, N. Cherepy, S. Hok, C. McNamee, C. Delzer, P. Hausladen, J. Hayward

Proceedings Volume 11838, 118380A (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2595907

KEYWORDS: Modulation transfer functions, Signal to noise ratio, Radiography, X-rays, Composites, Sensors, Scintillators, Photons, Imaging systems, Image processing

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Proceedings Article | 20 August 2020 Presentation + Paper

Evaluation of a novel bismuth-loaded plastic array for x-ray and neutron radiography

A. Decker, J. Hayward

Proceedings Volume 11494, 1149416 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2567343

KEYWORDS: X-rays, Modulation transfer functions, Composites, Signal to noise ratio, Radiography, Monte Carlo methods, Computer simulations, Photons

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Some novel organic plastic scintillators offer substantial improvements in light-yield, detection efficiency, and pulse-shape discrimination over more traditional plastic materials. One promising application for select organic scintillators is in lowcost, portable, and durable dual-particle imaging (DPI) systems to support nuclear safety, security, and safeguards purposes. All candidate materials should first undergo investigation utilizing industry standards to quantify and evaluate their capabilities. In this work, a 21% bismuth-loaded polyvinyl toluene (BiPVT) fabricated by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was computationally and experimentally evaluated as a small, pixelated radiographic array, with individual pixel dimensions of 2×2×19 mm. For comparison, the same evaluations were conducted for two samesized arrays made from EJ-200 and EJ-256. ASTM standard test methods and practices were utilized to calculate the modulation transfer function and basic spatial resolution for each array, both from measured and simulated data. Measurements were recorded by pressure coupling all three arrays to a commercial a-Si digital radiographic panel, and the computational model replicated the experimental design. Computational and experimental results were compared for all three arrays in the x-ray environment, whereas only computational results are available at this time for comparison in a fast neutron environment. The x-ray results demonstrate that BiPVT outperformed nearly identical arrays made from EJ- 200 and EJ-256, and the agreement between the simulated and experimental x-ray results validates the applied computational methodology for comparative predictions of neutron performance. Based on these simulations, the BiPVT array is also expected to outperform arrays made from EJ-200 and EJ-256 in fast neutron environments. These findings suggest that DPI systems utilizing BiPVT hold promise over more traditional material alternatives for continued development.

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