Recent advances in X-ray microtomography applied to materials

Abstract

This review highlights recent advances in X-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT) as applied to materials, specifically advances made since the first materials microCT review appeared in International Materials Reviews. 1 Improvements in instrumentation are covered, and one focus is microCT using phase (as opposed to absorption) contrast. Instead of grouping studies by disciplines, the reviewed reports are organised by type of application, specifically the study of the spatial distribution of phases, of cellular solids (including static and temporally evolving structures, fibrous network solids, mineralised tissues and biomedical applications), of channel structures, of deformation, fatigue and fracture, of processing and of corrosion and environmental interactions. Metrology applications are covered briefly, and several applications where microCT is combined with position resolved X-ray scattering are described in more detail. The accuracy of microCT reconstructions is discussed before data handling challenges are outlined. The review closes with speculations on the future directions of materials microCT.

Characterization of microstructures using contour tree connectivity for fluid flow analysis

“…Most relevant physical processes of flow take place at the micro or pore scale. This detailed morphological information can be obtained using high-resolution three-dimensional imaging devices such as microcomputed tomography (m-CT) [1]. The capability of the imagers to reveal pore scale details has made three-dimensional microstructure imaging very attractive.…”

Development of a novel façade sandwich panel with low-density wood fibres core and wood-based panels as faces

“…The 3D characterization of low-density wood fibres is a current topic of research (Faessel et al 2005;Poquillon et al 2005;Pourdeyhimi et al 2006;Badel et al 2008;Stock 2008 An important background on sandwich panels exists since the 1960´s (Allen 1969). Much work was carried out in the 90´s based on finite elements (Ha 1990), as well as on exact matrix formulations (Ha 1992(Ha , 1993.…”

Microstructural Evolution within the Interphase between Hardening Overlay and Existing Concrete Substrates

“…Recently, He et al [46], Helfen et al [47], and Sun et al [48] used high resolution X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) for this purpose. This advanced technique has been proven to provide information on the real size and spatial distribution of the pores, which cannot be obtained by classical techniques [49][50][51][52][53][54]. Parisatto et al [42] pointed out that no other experimental technique is presently capable of non-invasive high resolution imaging such a complex microstructure in 3D with submicrometric resolution in a non-invasive manner.…”