Xradia MicroXCT-400 tomograph
MicroXCT-400 is delivered by Xradia (Concord, California, USA) is a high-resolution 3D X-ray microscope optimized for non-destructive imaging of complex internal structures. It is based on a Hamamatsu L9421-02 Microfocus X-ray source (20 kV - 90 kV and 10 - 200 μA, 8 W power) and a 4 Megapixel (2048x2048) 16-bit digital CCD camera (Andor DW436-BV-550) coupled to several microscope objectives (5x, 10x, 20x) with scintillators.
The device's spatial resolution (MTF 10%) is between 1.5 µm and 3 µm, and the sample size is between 1.2 mm and 4.0 mm, respectively. Typical scan time ranges between 8 h and 20 h.
The device can operate either in absorption or propagation phase contrast mode.
A typical application of the MicroXCT device is the determination of the microstructure of paper, cardboard, insulation, composite, or other material containing natural or engineered fibres. In the figure below, a cross-section of a hot-pressed TMP sheet is shown (collaboration with Mid Sweden University). The dark regions are pores in the sample and air outside it, and the light grey regions are cross-sections of individual wood fibres. Furthermore, the red lines denote the edges of the fibres determined with image analysis, and the blue lines denote the surfaces of the sheet determined with an in-house developed Carpet algorithm. This presentation allows further analysis of the structure, e.g.,
- porosity,
- pore diameter,
- surface roughness,
- z-directional profiles of porosity, and pore size,
- fibre orientation,
- connectivity of pores,
- geometric tortuosity,
- thickness, interfacial roughness, and porosity of coating layers,
- volume fraction and particle size of mineral (ash) phases, together with their z-directional profiles.
There are additional analysis possibilities, e.g., for composite materials. Please contact us for more information.
