Japanese Researchers Plan to Use Muons to Test Engineering Quality

< P > < FONT face = Verdana > X-rays can examine people, and muons can penetrate hard concrete, which Japanese researchers intend to use to check the quality of construction projects.  

< P > < FONT face = Verdana > The muon is a negatively charged elementary particle with 207 times the mass of the electron. Muons are formed by cosmic rays colliding with the Earth's atmosphere, and there are about 10,000 muons per square meter of the surface every minute.

< P > < FONT face = Verdana > According to a recent report on the website of Japan's Asahi Shimbun, researchers at the Seismological Research Institute of the University of Tokyo and the Japan High Energy Accelerator Research Institute have developed a device to observe the amount and direction of muons. The device is mainly a 5-centimeter-long plastic rod that glows when hit by muons. An observation device can convert light into electric current and record it.  

< P > < FONT face = Verdana > In the experiment, the researchers placed the newly developed observation device in front of and behind a piece of concrete about 20 centimeters thick, with eight steel bars in the concrete. When a muon passes through reinforced concrete and hits a steel bar with high density, its path will be bent and it will not reach the observation device on the other side, while the muon that does not hit the steel bar can penetrate the concrete straight and be captured by the observation device on the other side. In this way, researchers can judge the spacing and thickness of steel bars in the wall according to the number of muons captured through the reinforced concrete wall.

< P > < FONT face = Verdana > Japanese researchers said that in the future, it is expected to use this characteristic of muons to test whether the design of buildings is scientific and whether there is jerry-building without destroying buildings.

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