Differential analysis of volumetric changes in multiphase materials using microtomography
Abstract
Microtomography is a tool that allows, in a non-invasive and non-destructive way, not on-ly to obtain the spatial reconstruction of the samples under study, but also to quantify the parameters that determine the organization of the individual elements that make up this structure. Using the analysis based on image analysis algorithms, the application of this method provides the possibility of both qualitative and quantitative measurements. Measurements of structural parameters make it possible to determine parameter values in 2D histomorphometric analysis, as well as reconstructed objects in 3D analysis. During image reconstruction, a model is created that characterizes the radiological density of the material in different shades of gray. The study of composites and multiphase materials, due to the difference in radiological density of different phases, provides the possibility of volumetric evaluation of parameters describing each phase separately. Such parameters include, among others, particle size or volume fraction of composite phases. One of the research directions in which this analysis is an important element are studies related to the degradation of the material under the influence of external factors (time, environment or temperature). In this type of measurements it becomes very valuable to be able to compare the different stages of degradation, for example. Computerized microtomogra-phy, which allows to obtain reconstructions with a resolution up to um, based on differen-tial analysis, is therefore an excellent tool for such measurements.
