Tomography of Materials and Structures最新文献

{"title":"Improving electron tomography of mesoporous silica by Ga intrusion","authors":"Alexander Kichigin ,&nbsp;Johannes Böhmer ,&nbsp;Moritz Buwen ,&nbsp;Benjamin Apeleo Zubiri ,&nbsp;Mingjian Wu ,&nbsp;Johannes Will ,&nbsp;Dominik Drobek ,&nbsp;Alexander Götz ,&nbsp;Nora Vorlaufer ,&nbsp;Jakob Söllner ,&nbsp;Matthias Thommes ,&nbsp;Peter Felfer ,&nbsp;Thomas Przybilla ,&nbsp;Erdmann Spiecker","doi":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100068","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100068","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Electron tomography (ET) offers nanoscale 3D characterization of mesoporous materials but is often limited by their low scattering contrast. Here, we introduce a gallium (Ga) intrusion strategy for mesoporous silica that dramatically improves imaging contrast – a key benefit that enables more accurate 3D reconstructions. By infiltrating Ga through a modified mercury intrusion porosimetry process, the high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) STEM signal is enhanced by 5 times, resulting in a 34 % improvement in reconstruction resolution and a 49 % enhancement in interface sharpness. In addition, the increased sample conductivity facilitates focused ion beam (FIB) milling by minimizing charging effects and reducing drift. This approach enables precise segmentation and quantitative analysis of pore connectivity and size distribution, thereby extending the applicability of ET to light-element non-conductive materials and advancing structure-property characterization of complex porous systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101254,"journal":{"name":"Tomography of Materials and Structures","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100068"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144072276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In-depth analysis of CT resolution impact on porosity evaluation in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing","authors":"Jitendra Singh Rathore ,&nbsp;Andrew King ,&nbsp;Florian Le Bourdais ,&nbsp;Jean-Paul Garandet","doi":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100065","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100065","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurate porosity determination of Additive Manufacturing (AM) parts remains a key challenge. This study provides an in-depth analysis of how computed tomography (CT) resolution affects porosity detection in Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) manufactured parts by comparing X-ray based measurements from laboratory and synchrotron sources. To represent a range of porosity levels, three samples were selected from an extensive set of LPBF experiments, of respectively low, medium, and high porosities. A laboratory source based computed tomography system was used for the acquisition at the best resolution considering the size limitation due to the sample geometry. In order to achieve higher resolution, a synchrotron source was additionally utilized. The comparative analysis revealed that the porosity measurements from both the laboratory and synchrotron sources were in good agreement for samples with low and high porosity levels. This indicates that for extreme ends of the studied porosity spectrum, laboratory CT systems can provide reliable measurements. However, for the sample with medium porosity, the limited resolution of the laboratory CT leads to an overestimation compared to the synchrotron CT results. This discrepancy is found to be due to inaccuracies in detecting and clustering neighboring pores, leading to an overestimation of porosity. A comparison of the obtained results with the porosity determinations by the widely used Archimedes method is proposed to show the potential and the limitations of each technique for the assessment of additively manufactured parts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101254,"journal":{"name":"Tomography of Materials and Structures","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100065"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143817483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Slip localization and grain boundary sliding analysis at sub-voxel resolution using phase contrast tomography","authors":"Pedro Damas Resende ,&nbsp;Damien Texier ,&nbsp;Julien Genée ,&nbsp;Malo Jullien ,&nbsp;Henry Proudhon ,&nbsp;Julien Réthoré ,&nbsp;Didier Bardel ,&nbsp;Wolfgang Ludwig","doi":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100060","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100060","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Microplasticity of a polycrystalline Ni-based superalloy was investigated using phase contrast tomography (PCT) and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). Incremental tensile testing was performed on three miniaturized specimens to investigate strain localization at low plastic deformation at room temperature and 650 ^∘C. Microplasticity events, such as slip activity, deformation twinning, and grain boundary sliding, are free to emerge at the specimen surface and generate sub-micrometer topographic features. High resolution digital image correlation was conducted using LSCM to have a description of the in-plane and out-of-plane kinematics of the specimen surface. Despite slip amplitudes substantially smaller than the voxel size, PCT was capable to evidence the out-of-plane component of slip traces at the onset of plasticity. The technique was also used at 650 ^∘C, a temperature at which grain boundary sliding occurs, but surface reactivity is severe enough not to allow for topographic measurements using LSCM. Therefore, PCT was found particularly adapted to evidence “surface” microplasticity events hidden by an extra surface oxidation layer.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101254,"journal":{"name":"Tomography of Materials and Structures","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100060"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143632180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Individual component-based parameter-adaptive segmentation approach for improved segmentation of synchrotron µCT data of osteocyte lacunae in bone tissue","authors":"Jan Mölich ,&nbsp;Sophie Anuth ,&nbsp;Jussi-Petteri Suuronen ,&nbsp;Emely Bortel ,&nbsp;Javier Gerber ,&nbsp;Enni Mattern ,&nbsp;Timm Weitkamp ,&nbsp;Katja Nelson ,&nbsp;Susanne Nahles ,&nbsp;Bernhard Hesse","doi":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100066","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100066","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bone tissue is highly complex and dynamic, capable of adapting to mechanical demands and repairing itself through remodeling processes. This remodeling results in a heterogeneous mineral distribution, with lower mineralization in younger bone regions and higher mineralization in older ones. Osteocytes - bone cells residing in small lacunae within the mineralized bone matrix - orchestrate this remodeling. Additionally, osteocytes actively modify their peri-lacunar mineralized tissue. These characteristics, combined with the high osteocyte density of several tens of thousands per mm³ , make the distribution, size, and shape of osteocyte lacunae highly relevant characteristics of bone tissue. To study osteocyte lacunar properties, synchrotron-based computed tomography (µCT) has become increasingly popular over the past decade due to its combination of high spatial resolution, sensitivity to mineral density variations, and rapid data acquisition. However, segmenting lacunae and quantifying their properties remains challenging. Osteocyte lacunae exhibit diverse shapes and sizes, and their surrounding mineral density can vary significantly between lacunae, even within the same tissue sample. Consequently, no global gray value threshold can provide an equally accurate segmentation across different tissue regions within the same sample. More advanced segmentation techniques, such as those based on top-hat transformations, require the definition of a structuring element whose size must be tailored to the feature size, in this case, the lacunae. In this study, we propose a novel approach to segmentation that adjusts the threshold value and the size of the structuring element for each lacuna individually. This method, referred to as the Kangaroo Segmentation Approach, involves an initial rough segmentation, followed by connected-component analysis and refinement steps applied to each component. The results of this Kangaroo Segmentation Approach are compared with conventional Otsu thresholding and thresholding methods based on top-hat transformations. Our findings demonstrate a significant improvement in segmentation accuracy with the proposed method.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101254,"journal":{"name":"Tomography of Materials and Structures","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100066"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143847897","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Single-particle geometries of pharmaceutical powders from X-ray tomography; a simple and reliable sample preparation method","authors":"Dingeman L.H. van der Haven ,&nbsp;Jan L. Andreasen ,&nbsp;Umair Zafar ,&nbsp;Ioannis S. Fragkopoulos ,&nbsp;James A. Elliott","doi":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100067","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100067","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The size and shape of the particles within a powder are critical quality-control attributes in the pharmaceutical industry. These microscopic attributes significantly affect the macroscopic properties of the powder, such as the bulk density and flowability. Methods for determining the particle size distribution (PSD) and characterisation of particle shape are therefore essential but can be extremely challenging, particularly when looking at individual particle shapes. This work introduces a new sample preparation method for X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) that is convenient, fast, and produces well-dispersed samples, allowing the identification of individual particles. The resulting contrast is excellent even for organic pharmaceutical powders, which are often challenging to image due to the low attenuation coefficient of their components. Simultaneously, an analysis method is proposed that reliably applies to all tested powders, automatically filtering out artefacts such as bubbles. The combined method unambiguously identifies individual particles, allowing the determination of PSD, particle shape classification, and analysis of the internal morphology of particles. Validation is provided through comparisons with laser diffraction, sieve analysis, and optical microscopy. While this new standardised μCT method is slightly more labour intensive than other characterisation methods, it requires only a minimal amount of material (∼15 mg) and provides superior morphological information, which can be used to help explain or predict bulk properties. This is particularly beneficial in early-phase development, where access to large quantities of powder is limited.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101254,"journal":{"name":"Tomography of Materials and Structures","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100067"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143892256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"3D mineral quantification of particulate materials with rare earth mineral inclusions: Achieving sub-voxel resolution by considering the partial volume and blurring effect","authors":"Shuvam Gupta ,&nbsp;Vivian Moutinho ,&nbsp;Jose R.A. Godinho ,&nbsp;Bradley M. Guy ,&nbsp;Jens Gutzmer","doi":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100050","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100050","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study documents a significant enhancement to the recently introduced Mounted Single Particle Characterization and Mineralogical Analyses (MSPaCMAn) workflow for particulate samples by X-ray computed tomography analyses. This enhancement is used to quantify the abundance of small grains of rare earth minerals within particulate samples of iron ore. In the studied samples, rare earth minerals are typically present as minute grains. The small size creates challenges for X-ray computed tomography due to the well-known partial volume and blurring effects. This effect is particularly pronounced when the sizes of grains start to approach the sizes of voxels. The enhanced MSPaCMAn workflow incorporates new steps to improve the reliability of mineral characterization by simultaneously analyzing the grey values and geometrical properties of rare earth mineral grains and their host minerals. The refined workflow also enables the comprehensive characterization of particle surfaces. The results of the MSPaCMAn were validated by scanning electron microscopy-based automated mineralogy and X-ray powder diffraction data. The study is a step towards accurate and reproducible mineralogical quantification of particulate processing samples using X-ray 3D imaging.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101254,"journal":{"name":"Tomography of Materials and Structures","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100050"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143092942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Contrast-enhancing staining agents for ex vivo contrast-enhanced computed tomography: A review","authors":"T. Balcaen ,&nbsp;S. Vangrunderbeeck ,&nbsp;W.M. De Borggraeve ,&nbsp;G. Kerckhofs","doi":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100052","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100052","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Ex vivo</em> microCT imaging has emerged as a powerful tool for 3D histology of biological tissues, offering significant advantages in terms of spatial resolution, simplicity of protocols and acquisition speed. Among the various techniques available, contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) is particularly favored for its ability to simultaneously visualize soft and mineralized tissue types through the use of contrast agents (CAs), making it suitable for laboratory-based microCT devices. This review focuses on contrast-enhancing staining agents (CESAs), a subclass of CAs, which enrich the X-ray attenuating atom content in soft tissues through interactions. Within this review, CESAs are categorized based on their chemical composition into organic, mixed (<em>i.e.</em> heavy metal and organic ligand) and inorganic compounds, each with specific properties and applications. Despite the growing interest and numerous studies on CESAs, the selection process often relies on trial-and-error, anecdotal knowledge, or commercial availability. This review aims to enhance understanding of the chemical interactions and distribution patterns of CESAs within biological tissues, by discussing a selection of studies grouping observations by tissues and organs, to gain a better understanding of consistent affinity patterns. The findings highlight the complexity and accompanying challenges of predicting CESA distribution. This review will provide a foundation for both intelligent CESA selection and design, tailored to specific research needs as well as a guide for the application expert in choosing relevant literature for designing their experiments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101254,"journal":{"name":"Tomography of Materials and Structures","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100052"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143212849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Self-supervised resolution enhancement for anisotropic volumes in edge illumination X-ray phase contrast micro-computed tomography","authors":"Jiayang Shi ,&nbsp;Louisa Brown ,&nbsp;Amir R. Zekavat ,&nbsp;Daniël M. Pelt ,&nbsp;Charlotte K. Hagen","doi":"10.1016/j.tmater.2024.100046","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tmater.2024.100046","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>X-ray phase contrast micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) can achieve higher contrast than conventional absorption-based X-ray micro-CT by utilizing refraction in addition to attenuation. In this work, we focus on a specific X-ray phase contrast technique, edge illumination (EI) micro-CT. EI uses a sample mask with transmitting apertures that split the X-ray beam into narrow beamlets, enabling detection of refraction-included intensity variations. Between the typical mask designs (circular and slit-shaped apertures), slit-shaped apertures offer practical advantages over circular ones, as they only require sample stepping in one direction, thereby reducing scanning time. However, this leads to anisotropic resolution, as the slit-shaped apertures enhances resolution only along the direction orthogonal to the slits. To address this limitation, we propose a self-supervised method that trains on high-resolution in-plane images to enhance resolution for out-of-plane images, effectively mitigating anisotropy. Our results on both simulated and real EI micro-CT datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101254,"journal":{"name":"Tomography of Materials and Structures","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100046"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143092995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scale correction in submicron computed tomography with a submillimeter field of view","authors":"Marek Zemek ,&nbsp;Pavel Blažek ,&nbsp;Jakub Šalplachta ,&nbsp;Tomáš Zikmund ,&nbsp;Michal Petřík ,&nbsp;Robert H. Schmitt ,&nbsp;Jozef Kaiser","doi":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100054","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100054","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Advances in micro-manufacturing and materials science create a demand for dimensional measurements using computed tomography with sub-micrometer resolution (submicron CT). Correction of the scale of CT data is essential for this task, but existing tools, which are used in CT modalities with lower resolutions, are often not suitable for submicron CT. The following study adapts scale correction to submicron CT using a miniature reference object with two ruby balls, which fits into a field of view with a sub-millimeter diameter and features a calibrated ball center-to-center distance of approximately 450 μm. CT data of the reference object were analyzed to determine a scale correction factor, which was applied to measurements of two additional reference objects of a similar scale and composition. The average bias of measurements for one of the objects was reduced from 3.35 μm to 0.26 μm, and the measurement uncertainty was lowered from 3.4 μm to 1.2 μm. Similar results were also achieved for the second object. The extended scan time of the reference object and the potential for sample drift, which are both typical for submicron CT, were mitigated by angular undersampling. Finally, a complementary scale correction approach is demonstrated using projection data of the reference object. This approach avoids tomographic artifacts caused by very radio-opaque objects, and it is practical for applications that utilize lower-energy X-rays.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101254,"journal":{"name":"Tomography of Materials and Structures","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100054"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143378757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterizing heterogeneous rocks in 3D with a multimodal deep learning approach – Implications for transport simulations","authors":"Jukka Kuva ,&nbsp;Mohammad Jooshaki ,&nbsp;Ester M. Jolis ,&nbsp;Juuso Sammaljärvi ,&nbsp;Marja Siitari-Kauppi ,&nbsp;Filip Jankovský ,&nbsp;Milan Zuna ,&nbsp;Alan Bischoff ,&nbsp;Paul Sardini","doi":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100055","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tmater.2025.100055","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Investigating the heterogeneous transport properties of rock is vital for accurate assessment of radionuclide migration, which is essential for the safety assessment of a nuclear waste disposal facility. Previous studies have combined x-ray computed tomography (XCT) with other methods to obtain three-dimensional (3D) mineral and porosity maps, but such approaches are time consuming and somewhat dependent on the operator. To address these limitations, we have developed a deep learning-based method that combines XCT with fast and modern characterization techniques such as scanning micro x-ray fluorescence (μXRF) and carbon 14 polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) autoradiography. This innovative approach produces 3D mineral and porosity maps with minimal operator dependency and manual work. The results obtained from our analysis of various rock samples demonstrate the method’s suitability for transport simulation studies in various geological settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101254,"journal":{"name":"Tomography of Materials and Structures","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100055"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143436464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}