Workshop - X-ray Computed Tomography for Material Mechanical Behaviour Assessment

The objective of this seminar was to investigate the state of the art and future challenges of the use of X- ray computed tomography. Applications include damage detection in materials as well as 3D volume deformation through digital volume correlation software packages. The unique feature of X- ray computed tomography to investigate the mechanical phenomena occurring within the solids as opposed to just on the surface makes it an invaluable tool to follow material degradation (micro and macro cracks that occur in static or fatigue loading), capture material microstructural features in metallic or polymeric foams, composites and many other heterogeneous materials and finally measure the deformation within the volume. These capabilities provide unique information to optimise the design of advanced structural components.

There was an exhibition of instruments related to those used in the presentation, and a tour of the University of Southampton’s dedicated centre for computed tomography (CT), μ-vis. The centre provides complete support for 3D imaging science, serving Engineering, Biomedical, Environmental and Archaeological Sciences. The centre encompasses five complementary scanning systems supporting a wide range of sample sizes (imaged volumes up to 1.5 x 1 x 1m) and resolution (down to ~200nm).