An experimental study on the axial compressive failure of cylindrical unidirectional (UD) carbon fibre-epoxy rods has been performed to better understand kink bands and the relevant damage mechanisms in three dimensions (3D). Post-mortem X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging has shown that fibre kink bands predominantly all lie within the same plane in a cylindrical rod sample uniaxially compressed without lateral constraint. Kink bands at different stages of development are contained in the damage volume and the geometric parameters of fully developed kink bands are consistent through the damage zone, with a kink-band width ω ≈ 20-320 µm, kink-band angle β ≈ 11-40° and fibre rotation angle Φ (φ+φ o ) ≈ 18-52°. Fibre failure, longitudinal splitting and matrix micro-cracks within the fibre kink zone are identified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray micro-CT observations. The smallest radius of curvature that corresponds to maximum amount of bending of the unbroken buckled fibres was ～280 µm (40 fibre diameters). Kink-band 2 boundary planes and longitudinal splitting have been extracted and visualised in 3D for the first time.

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Ceramic coating is an effective method for improving the erosion resistance of a material, particularly for titanium alloys. In this study, a TiN/ZrN (ceramic/ceramic) nanoscale multilayer coating is designed and prepared on the Ti6Al4V titanium alloy surface by the physical vapor deposition (PVD) process. The cross-sectional microstructure and phase composition are measured using SEM and XRD, respectively. The hardness, elastic modulus, and adhesion of the coating are measured by the nano-indentation and scratch method. The erosion test is conducted at a 45° angle with 100 m/s velocity using self-developed erosion equipment. The erosion resistance mechanisms of both the substrate and the coating are revealed more intuitively through a single sand particle impact test. The results show that the erosion resistance rate of the coating is 15.5 times higher than that of the titanium alloy substrate. The damage mechanisms of material removal of the coating include crack deflection, crack branching, and succeeding interaction between them when suffering an impacting load. These cracks are started from the droplets and the stress concentrations on the coating surface during the preparation of coating. They are the primary reasons for the decrease in the erosion resistance of the coating. This research is important for the optimization of the erosion-resistant coating structure.

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Barite precipitation in fractures and nanopores within a shale sample is analysed in situ, in 3D, and over time. Diffusion of barium and sulphate from opposite sides of the sample creates a supersaturated zone where barium sulphate crystals precipitate. Time-lapse synchrotron-based computed tomography was used to track the growth of precipitates over time, even within the shale’s matrix where the nanopores are much smaller than the resolution of the technique. We observed that the kinetics of precipitation is limited by the type and size of the confinement where crystals are growing, i.e., nanopores and fractures. This has a major impact on the ion transport at the growth front, which determines the extent of precipitation within wider fractures (fast and localised precipitation), thinner fractures (non-localised and slowing precipitation) and nanopores (precipitation spread as a front moving at an approximately constant velocity of 10 ± 3 µm/h). A general sequence of events during precipitation in rocks containing pores and fractures of different sizes is proposed and its possible implications to earth sciences and subsurface engineering, e.g., fracking and mineral sequestration, are discussed.

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