An x-ray tomography facility for quantitative prediction of mechanical and transport properties in geological, biological, and synthetic systems

Abstract

ABSTRACT A fully integrated X-ray tomography facility w ith the ability to generate tomograms with 2048 3 voxels at 2micron spatial resolution was built to satisfy the requirements of a virtual materials testing laboratory. Theinstrument comprises of a continuously pumped micro-focus X-ray gun, a milli-degree rotation stage and a highresolution and large “eld X-ray camera, con“gured in a cone beam geometry with a circular trajectory. Thepurpose of this facility is to routinely analyse and investigate real world biological, geological and syntheticmaterials at a scale in which the traditional domains of physics, chemistry, biology and geology merge. Duringthe “rst 2 years of operation, approximately 4 Terabytes of data have been collected, processed and analysed,both as static and in some cases as composite dynamic data sets. This incorporates over 300 tomograms with1024 3 voxels and 50 tomograms with 2048 3 voxels for a wide range of research “elds. Specimens analysed includesedimentary rocks, soils, bone, soft tissue, ceramics, “br e-reinforced composites, foams, wood, paper, fossils,sphere packs, bio-morphs and small animals. In this paper, the ”exibility of the facility is highlighted with someprime examples.Keywords: X-ray micro-tomography, mesoscale physics, porous media, transport and mechanical properties