The European Network on Neutron Techniques Standardization for Structural Integrity (NeT)

This paper provides an overview over the work of the European Network on Neutron Techniques Standardization for Structural Integrity (NeT). The network involves some 35 organisations from industry and academia and these partners undertake the application of modern experimental and numerical techniques to problems related to the structural integrity of components, mainly relevant to nuclear applications. While being built around neutron scattering techniques, which are predominantly applied for analyses of welding residual stresses, one of the major strengths of the consortium is the diversity in available experimental and numerical techniques. In the residual stress area, for example, many types of materials characterizations testing, several methods for residual stress analysis, including neutron and X-ray diffraction, deep hole drilling, the contour method and others, and many different ways of numerical analysis employing several commercially available FEM codes can be covered by the partners. Currently the network has embarked on five different Task Groups. Four of these are dealing with welding residual stress assessment, and one applies Small Angle Neutron Scattering for studying thermal ageing processes in duplex stainless steels used for reactor core internals. The work already performed in the context of NeT and the envisaged investigations for the ongoing Task Groups are briefly outlined in this paper. The aim is to give the reader a comprehensive overview of the work of NeT and to shed some light on the potential present in this kind of collaborative effort.