Tomography Observations Research Articles

Investigation of 3D printing strategy on the mechanical performance of coextruded continuous carbon fiber reinforced PETG

AbstractFused filament fabrication (FFF) has been used to create prototypes and functional parts for various applications using plastic filaments. It has also been extended to the use of continuous fibers for reinforcing thermoplastic polymers. This study aims to optimize the deposition design of a coextruded continuous carbon fiber (CCF) composite filament with a polyethylene terephthalate glycol‐modified (PETG) filament. The characterizations on the raw materials revealed that the matrix polymer in CCF composite filament had similar physicochemical properties as PETG, and carbon fibers were homogeneously distributed in CCF filament. The effect of raster orientation and shells number on the mechanical properties of non‐reinforced and coextruded CCF‐reinforced PETG was investigated. The highest mechanical properties were obtained at a raster orientation of 0° for both reinforced and non‐reinforced materials. With the increase of raster orientation, Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength decreased. The presence of shells improved the tensile strength of non‐reinforced PETG. For composite samples printed with unreinforced shells, Young's modulus decreased due to decrease in fibers content, and elongation at break and ultimate tensile strength increased. Tomographic observations showed that the mechanical behavior of printed specimens depended on the anisotropy of porosity in printed specimens.

New insights on polar mesospheric cloud particle size distributions from a two-satellite common volume study

The particle size distribution of Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMC) is closely related to the fundamental processes of cloud formation and evolution. Still, despite substantial observational efforts, specific details about the particle size distribution have remained obscure. In this study, we aim at deriving more constraints on PMC size distributions by combining optical measurements from two satellite instruments observing a common PMC volume. We use a special set of 2D tomographic limb observations from the Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imager System (OSIRIS) on the Odin satellite from 2010 to 2011 in the latitude range 78° N to 80° N and compare these to simultaneous PMC observations from the nadir-viewing Cloud Imaging and Particle Size (CIPS) instrument on the AIM satellite. A key goal is to find the assumption on the mathematical shape of the particle size distribution that should be applied to a vertically resolving limb-viewing instrument to reach consistent size results compared to the column-integrated ice distribution as seen by a nadir-viewing instrument. Our results demonstrate that viewing geometry and sampling volume of each instrument must be carefully considered and that the same size distribution assumption cannot simultaneously describe a column-integrated and a local height-resolved size distribution. In particular, applying the standard Gaussian assumption, used by many earlier PMC studies, to both limb and nadir observation leads to an overestimate of particle sizes seen by OSIRIS by about 10 nm as compared to CIPS. We show that the agreement can be improved if a Log-normal assumption with a broad distribution width around σ = 1.42 is adopted for OSIRIS. A reason for this broad distribution best describing the OSIRIS observations we suggest the large retrieval volume of the limb measurement. Gravity waves and other small-scale processes can cause horizontal variations and a co-existence of a wide range of particle populations in the sampling volume. Horizontal integration then leads to apparently much broader size distributions than encountered in a small horizontal sampling volume.

Sex identification of adult bamboo powderpost beetles, Dinoderus minutus, based on X-ray computed tomographic observations

Sex identification of adult bamboo powderpost beetles, Dinoderus minutus, based on X-ray computed tomographic observations

Fire behaviour of hybrid filament-wound single and adhesively bonded composites tubes under static pressure

The present work aims to experimentally investigate the fire behaviour of water-filled E glass reinforced thermoset resin hybrid filament-wound composites tubes under static pressure. Heretofore, fire endurance tests have been conducted on single and adhesively bonded tubes manufactured by CTRA Company. Furthermore, internal pressure tests until failure have been performed on the burnt single and burnt joined tubes in order to quantify their abilities to contain the fluid after being exposed to heat flux. A comparison between the pressure behaviour of exposed to fire (burnt) and non-exposed tubes (single and joined) was also inspected. The identification of the fire-induced damage mechanisms of the tubes was performed through optical microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray tomographic observations. Finally, the thermal analysis was carried-out on burnt specimens in order to better understand the multiphysical phenomenon taking place during the fire endurance tests. The experimental results have revealed that the combustion process of both single and joined tubes was described in four steps namely tube heating, resin degradation, ignition and flame decay. Moreover, it was found that no leakage was witnessed on the tubes (single and joined) outer surfaces during the fire endurance tests. The comparison between the pressure behaviour of the burnt single tube and the burnt joined one has proved that the single tube is much resistant under internal pressure loading than the burnt joined tube. Finally, the fire-induced damage included matrix cracking and delamination between the tube plies which was noticed from microscopic observations.

KELT-25 b and KELT-26 b: A Hot Jupiter and a Substellar Companion Transiting Young A Stars Observed by TESS*

Abstract We present the discoveries of KELT-25 b (TIC 65412605, TOI-626.01) and KELT-26 b (TIC 160708862, TOI-1337.01), two transiting companions orbiting relatively bright, early A stars. The transit signals were initially detected by the KELT survey and subsequently confirmed by Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) photometry. KELT-25 b is on a 4.40 day orbit around the V = 9.66 star CD-24 5016 ( K, M ⋆ = M ⊙), while KELT-26 b is on a 3.34 day orbit around the V = 9.95 star HD 134004 ( = K, M ⋆ = M ⊙), which is likely an Am star. We have confirmed the substellar nature of both companions through detailed characterization of each system using ground-based and TESS photometry, radial velocity measurements, Doppler tomography, and high-resolution imaging. For KELT-25, we determine a companion radius of R P = R J and a 3σ upper limit on the companion’s mass of ∼64 M J. For KELT-26 b, we infer a planetary mass and radius of M P = and R P = R J. From Doppler tomographic observations, we find KELT-26 b to reside in a highly misaligned orbit. This conclusion is weakly corroborated by a subtle asymmetry in the transit light curve from the TESS data. KELT-25 b appears to be in a well-aligned, prograde orbit, and the system is likely a member of the cluster Theia 449.

Effective Opacity of the Intergalactic Medium from Galaxy Spectra Analysis

Abstract We measure the effective opacity ( ) of the intergalactic medium from the composite spectra of 281 Lyman-break galaxies in the redshift range 2 ≲ z ≲ 3. Our spectra are taken from the COSMOS Lyα Mapping And Tomographic Observations survey derived from the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer on the W.M. Keck I telescope. We generate composite spectra in two redshift intervals and fit them with spectral energy distribution (SED) models composed of simple stellar populations. Extrapolating these SED models into the Lyα forest, we measure the effective Lyα opacity ( ) in the 2.02 ≤ z ≤ 2.44 range. At z = 2.22, we estimate from a power-law fit to the data. These measurements are consistent with estimates from quasar analyses at z < 2.5 indicating that the systematic errors associated with normalizing quasar continua are not substantial. We provide a Gaussian processes model of our results and previous measurements that describes the steep redshift evolution in from z = 1.5–4.

Temporal Characteristics of P-Band Tomographic Radar Backscatter of a Boreal Forest

Temporal variations in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter over forests are of concern for any SAR mission with the goal of estimating forest parameters from SAR data. In this article, a densely sampled, two-year long time series of P-band (420 to 450 MHz) boreal forest backscatter, acquired by a tower-based radar, is analyzed. The experiment setup provides time series data at multiple polarizations. Tomographic capabilities allow the separation of backscatter at different heights within the forest. Temporal variations of these multipolarized, tomographic radar observations are characterized and quantified. The mechanisms studied are seasonal variations, effects of freezing conditions, diurnal variations, effects of wind, and the effects of rainfall on backscatter. An emphasis is placed on upper-canopy backscatter, which has been shown to be a robust proxy for forest biomass. The canopy backscatter was more stable than ground-level backscatter during nonfrozen conditions, supporting forest parameter retrieval approaches based on tomography or interferometric ground notching. Large backscatter variations during frozen conditions, which may be detected using cross-polarized backscatter observations, can result in large errors in forest parameter estimates. Diurnal backscatter variations observed during hot periods were likely connected to tree water transport and storage mechanisms. Backscatter changes were also observed during strong winds. These variations were small in comparison to the variations due to freeze-thaw and soil moisture changes and should not result in significant forest parameter estimation errors. The presented results are useful for designing physically based and semiempirical scattering models that account for temporal changes in scattering characteristics.

X‐ray tomographic observations of microcracking patterns in fibre‐reinforced mortar during tension stiffening tests

AbstractFor the last decades, new reparation or fabrication processes have been studied to replace traditional rebar by roving of different mineral or organic fibres to avoid corrosion issues. Such materials refer to the family of cementitious composite. Their tensile strength would directly depend on the proportion of reinforcement and strongly on the interfacial mechanical properties between fibres and cementitious matrix. From now, evaluation of interfacial properties was mostly limited to the use of force–displacement curves obtained from mechanical experiments. This work presents a new methodology using micromechanical tension stiffening tests combined with X‐ray computed tomography (XRCT) observations, performed at the Anatomix beamline at Synchrotron SOLEIL, and specific image processing procedures. Multi‐XRCT acquisitions with suitable scanning strategy are used to image the whole fibre‐matrix interface along centimetric samples at four to five different levels of loading magnitude. Intensive image processing is then performed on tomographic images including digital volume correlation (DVC), image subtraction and Hessian‐based filtering. This experiment allows to study damage mechanisms at small scale. The proposed methodology shows great potential to provide both qualitative and quantitative elements on interfacial mechanical behaviour such as crack growth and crack orientation. The interface between mortar and sufficiently small multi‐fibre yarn used in this paper is shown to behave in certain condition as traditional rebar interface producing conical cracks in the surrounding matrix rather than debonding in mode 2, permitting a much higher energy dissipation during debonding. According to this study, conical cracks repartition and geometry are mostly influenced by the cementitious matrix. The spacing between cracks goes from 50 to 100 μm, and the angle between crack normal vector and yarn orientation goes from 35° to 50°.

Bubble mapping with the Square Kilometre Array – I. Detecting galaxies with Euclid, JWST, WFIRST, and ELT within ionized bubbles in the intergalactic medium at z > 6

ABSTRACT The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is expected to provide the first tomographic observations of the neutral intergalactic medium at redshifts z > 6 and pinpoint the locations of individual ionized bubbles during early stages of cosmic reionization. In scenarios where star-forming galaxies provide most of the ionizing photons required for cosmic reionization, one expects the first ionized bubbles to be centred on overdensities of such galaxies. Here, we model the properties of galaxy populations within isolated, ionized bubbles that SKA-1 should be able to resolve at z ≈ 7–10, and explore the prospects for galaxy counts within such structures with various upcoming near-infrared telescopes. We find that, for the bubbles that are within reach of SKA-1 tomography, the bubble volume is closely tied to the number of ionizing photons that have escaped from the galaxies within. In the case of galaxy-dominated reionization, galaxies are expected to turn up above the spectroscopic detection threshold of JWST and ELT in even the smallest resolvable bubbles at z ≤ 10. The prospects of detecting galaxies within these structures in purely photometric surveys with Euclid, WFIRST, JWST, or ELT are also discussed. While spectroscopy is preferable towards the end of reionization to provide a robust sample of bubble members, multiband imaging may be a competitive option for bubbles at z ≈ 10, due to the very small number of line-of-sight interlopers expected at these redshifts.

Acoustic emission description from a damage and failure scenario of rotomoulded polyolefin sandwich structure subjected to internal pressure for storage applications

The aim of this paper is to study the damage mechanisms in a sandwich polymer structure that contains three layers: two polyolefin skins and the foam core (skin–foam–skin). Specific tests on structure associated with the acoustic emission (AE) technique and tomographic observations (RX) are used to identify the damage. Initially, a conventional tensile test was performed to correlate the acoustic emission with the initiation of plasticity and damage to a polyethylene sample. The results obtained are close to those observed in other studies and it is possible to separate the signal from cavitation and propagation of necking. The technique is then employed to capture the rupture of a polymer skin on a multilayer rotomoulded structure (bottle). Tests were carried out on this bottle under internal water pressure. Three tests are performed with more or less early interruptions in order to identify the first damage and understand their evolution. Different quantities (average frequency, RA value, etc.) are observed in order to quantify and understand the perceived damage. With the AE/RX correlation and mechanical behaviour, a scenario of structural damage is proposed.

Calibration of a Ground-Based Array Radar for Tomographic Imaging of Natural Media

Ground-based tomographic radar measurements provide valuable knowledge about the electromagnetic scattering mechanisms and temporal variations of an observed scene and are essential in preparation for space-borne tomographic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) missions. Due to the short range between the radar antennas and a scene being observed, the tomographic radar observations are affected by several systematic errors. This article deals with the modelling and calibration of three systematic errors: mutual antenna coupling, magnitude and phase errors and the pixel-variant impulse response of the tomographic image. These errors must be compensated for so that the tomographic images represent an undistorted rendering of the scene reflectivity. New calibration methods were described, modelled and validated using experimental data. The proposed methods will be useful for future ground-based tomographic radar experiments in preparation for space-borne SAR missions.

KELT-24b: A 5MJ Planet on a 5.6 day Well-aligned Orbit around the Young V = 8.3 F-star HD 93148

Abstract We present the discovery of KELT-24 b, a massive hot Jupiter orbiting a bright (V = 8.3 mag, K = 7.2 mag) young F-star with a period of 5.6 days. The host star, KELT-24 (HD 93148), has a T eff = K, a mass of M * = M ⊙, a radius of R * = 1.506 ± 0.022 R ⊙, and an age of Gyr. Its planetary companion (KELT-24 b) has a radius of R P = 1.272 ± 0.021 R J and a mass of M P = M J, and from Doppler tomographic observations, we find that the planet’s orbit is well-aligned to its host star’s projected spin axis ( ). The young age estimated for KELT-24 suggests that it only recently started to evolve from the zero-age main sequence. KELT-24 is the brightest star known to host a transiting giant planet with a period between 5 and 10 days. Although the circularization timescale is much longer than the age of the system, we do not detect a large eccentricity or significant misalignment that is expected from dynamical migration. The brightness of its host star and its moderate surface gravity make KELT-24b an intriguing target for detailed atmospheric characterization through spectroscopic emission measurements since it would bridge the current literature results that have primarily focused on lower mass hot Jupiters and a few brown dwarfs.

Neutral island statistics during reionization from 21-cm tomography

Abstract We present the prospects of extracting information about the epoch of reionization by identifying the remaining neutral regions, referred to as islands, in tomographic observations of the redshifted 21-cm signal. Using simulated data sets we show that at late times the 21-cm power spectrum is fairly insensitive to the details of the reionization process but that the properties of the neutral islands can distinguish between different reionization scenarios. We compare the properties of these islands with those of ionized bubbles. At equivalent volume-filling fractions, neutral islands tend to be fewer in number but larger compared to the ionized bubbles. In addition, the evolution of the size distribution of neutral islands is found to be slower than that of the ionized bubbles and also their percolation behaviour differs substantially. Even though the neutral islands are relatively rare, they will be easier to identify in observations with the low frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array due to their larger size and the lower noise levels at lower redshifts. The size distribution of neutral islands at the late stages of reionization is found to depend on the source properties, such as the ionizing efficiency of the sources and their minimum mass. We find the longest line of sight through a neutral region to be more than 100 comoving Mpc until very late stages (90–95 per cent reionized), which may have relevance for the long absorption trough at z = 5.6–5.8 in the spectrum of quasar ULAS J0148+0600.

Phase-field investigation of the coarsening of porous structures by surface diffusion

Nano and microporous connected structures have attracted increasing attention in the past decades due to their high surface area, presenting interesting properties for a number of applications. These structures generally coarsen by surface diffusion, leading to an enlargement of the structure characteristic length scale. We propose to study this coarsening behavior using a phase-field model for surface diffusion. In addition to reproducing the expected scaling law, our simulations enable to investigate precisely the evolution of the topological and morphological characteristics along the coarsening process. In particular, we show that after a transient regime, the coarsening is self-similar as exhibited by the evolution of both morphological and topological features. In addition, the influence of surface anisotropy is discussed and comparisons with experimental tomographic observations are presented.

On the role of the spherulitic microstructure in fatigue damage of pure polymer and glass-fiber reinforced semi-crystalline polyamide 6.6

Understanding fatigue damage mechanisms in short fiber reinforced thermoplastics is a key issue in order to optimize material processing and propose physically based multiscale fatigue damage models. The present work aims at further understanding observations of fatigue damage in the polyamide 6.6 matrix with respect to its semi-crystalline structure. In this paper the polymer and associated composite are tested in their ductile regime i.e. above the glass transition temperature. Tomographic and SEM observations are used in order to establish a damage scenario at the spherulitic scale. These observations prove that fatigue damage progresses by intra-spherulitic failure in their equatorial plane. Observations of the spherulite nuclei also evidence the oriented structure of the semi-crystalline polymer induced by the injection-molding manufacturing process.

On the role of F3 layers as well as solar flux in modulating the topside ionization over Indian region: An analysis

The behavior of ionization in the topside ionosphere above F region peak is quite different from the lower ionosphere owing to the diverse processes operational there. This paper presents a comprehensive study on the topside ionosphere and brings out the role of F3 layers as well as increase in solar flux in modulating the topside ionization. Data used comprises of the electron density obtained from COSMIC satellite for the period 2007 to 2012 as well as RaBIT tomograms for the period May to December 2011. This study clearly shows that the ionization in the height region of 300 km–400 km is affected by the presence of F3 layer while above 450 km ionization is not significantly altered by the formation of F3 layer during the solar minimum period. The important factor which affects topside ionization above this altitude is the solar flux. The present study has generated an empirical relationship between the topside electron density and F10.7 cm solar flux during the rising phase of solar cycle 24. This empirical relationship is compared using tomographic observations obtained from RaBIT (Radio Beacon for Ionospheric Tomography) data over Indian region.

Fatigue damage and failure analysis of honeycomb sandwich

Fatigue behavior of sandwich structures with honeycomb core and GFRP skins is studied and failure mode is investigated through tomographic observations. The first S/N curves are presented. The second part discusses the failure modes observed during fatigue tests and responsible for stiffness decrease during fatigue tests.

Direct Simulations of Pore-Scale Water Transport through Diffusion Media

A numerical framework is developed for simulating pore-scale liquid water transport in polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) diffusion media (DM) as measured by X-ray computed tomography. Accuracy of the model is evaluated by benchmarking it with micro-scale tomographic observations of liquid water in DM at different inlet pressures. Application of the model to nano-scale morphology of the micro porous layer (MPL) shows that cracks in MPL facilitate water management by keeping nano-pores dry. Simulations in macro-scale morphology of DM indicate that liquid water saturation is approximately two-times higher in DM without an MPL. This is shown to be a consequence of water accumulation in the middle-lower height of the DM in the absence of an MPL which is demonstrated to limit the water intrusion into DM. Simulation of the land-channel configuration shows water accumulation predominantly under the land of DM with an MPL whereas considerable amount of water is also observed under the channel without an MPL. Additionally, we performed direct reactant transport simulations showing that MPL facilitates significantly better O2 transport in wet DM (∼ two-times higher formation factor in land-channel configuration) but it induces slightly less facile O2 transport in dry DM (12% lower formation factor).

Calculating Trajectories Associated With Solute Transport in a Heterogeneous Medium

AbstractWe present a trajectory‐based technique for calculating solute transport in a porous medium that has several advantages over existing methods. Unlike streamlines, the extended trajectories are influenced by each of the important parameters governing transport, including molecular diffusion and transverse dispersion. The approach is complete and does not require any additional techniques, such as operator splitting or particle tracking, in order to account for the full dispersion tensor. The semianalytic expressions make it clear how the flow field, the concentration distribution, and the dispersion tensor contribute to the velocity field of an injected solute. The equations are valid for an arbitrary porous medium, including those with rapid spatial variations in properties, overcoming limitations faced by previous approaches based upon asymptotic techniques. A test on a layered model with sharp boundaries indicates that the extended trajectories are compatible with the results of a numerical simulator and differ from streamlines. We also describe a new form of the dispersion tensor that incorporates a known asymmetry. The trajectories indicate that the modifications of the dispersion tensor lead to more focused transport within regions of high conductivity. Finally, the trajectories are used to define a semianalytic relationship between solute travel times and variations in solute velocities along a path that may be used for tomographic imaging. In an application to the injection of a radioactive tracer into a Berea sandstone core, monitored using micropositron emission tomographic (micro‐PET) observations, the sensitivities are used to map the spatial variations of permeability within the core.

21CMMC with a 3D light-cone: the impact of the co-evolution approximation on the astrophysics of reionization and cosmic dawn

We extend 21CMMC, a Monte Carlo Markov Chain sampler of 3D reionisation simulations, to perform parameter estimation directly on 3D light-cones of the cosmic 21cm signal. This brings theoretical analysis closer to the tomographic 21-cm observations achievable with next generation interferometers like HERA and the SKA. Parameter recovery can therefore account for modes which evolve with redshift/frequency. Additionally, simulated data can be more easily corrupted to resemble real data. Using the light-cone version of 21CMMC, we quantify the biases in the recovered astrophysical parameters if we use the 21cm power spectrum from the co-evolution approximation to fit a 3D light-cone mock observation. While ignoring the light-cone effect under most assumptions will not significantly bias the recovered astrophysical parameters, it can lead to an underestimation of the associated uncertainty. However significant biases ($\sim$few -- 10 $\sigma$) can occur if the 21cm signal evolves rapidly (i.e. the epochs of reionisation and heating overlap significantly) and: (i) foreground removal is very efficient, allowing large physical scales ($k\lesssim0.1$~Mpc$^{-1}$) to be used in the analysis or (ii) theoretical modelling is accurate to within $\sim10$ per cent in the power spectrum amplitude.