X-ray microtomography facilitated modelling of microstructures

Two case studies of using a desktop, high-resolution X-ray microtomography (XMT) system, Skyscan 1072, to facilitate the modelling of microstructures of various materials are reported. In the first case, the XMT data are used to construct detailed structural models of porous or fibrous materials (e.g. fibre reinforced composites), with a view of using the model structure to help understand and predict properties of the modelled materials. The second case study uses XMT to provide input to, and to verify the structures generated by, a particle packing algorithm at a microscopic level. Both cases attempt to demonstrate the clear benefits of having the detailed insight provided by tomographic imaging techniques for the creation and verification of numerical models. Some numerical techniques that can make direct use of the model structures to predict, for example, thermal, electrical, mechanical and hydraulic properties of the modelled materials are discussed briefly.