Welcome to the Amira-Avizo Software Use Case Gallery

Below you will find a collection of use cases of our 3D data visualization and analysis software. These use cases include scientific publications, articles, papers, posters, presentations or even videos that show how Amira-Avizo Software is used to address various scientific and industrial research topics.

Use the Domain selector to filter by main application area, and use the Search box to enter keywords related to specific topics you are interested in.

Three-dimensional imaging of microstructural evolution in SEM-based nano-CT

Three-dimensional imaging of microstructural evolution in SEM-based nano-CT

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a powerful and versatile technique for materials characterization and present in many laboratories. The integration of an X-ray target holder and detector allows expanding the modalities of SEM by X-ray imaging. These little hardware adaptations enable radiography ... Read more

Jonas Fell, Christoph Pauly, Michael Maisl, Simon Zabler, Frank Mücklich, Hans-Georg Herrmann

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Three-dimensional grain mapping of open-cell metallic foam by integrating synthetic data with experimental data from high-energy X-ray diffraction microscopy

Three-dimensional grain mapping of open-cell metallic foam by integrating synthetic data with experimental data from high-energy X-ray diffraction microscopy

The complex mechanical response of open-cell foams depends strongly on the hierarchy of length scales inherent in them, from engineering-part scale to the ligament scale through the grain scale down to the crystal-lattice scale. A first step toward understanding and predicting the coordinated mechanical response across le... Read more

Jayden C. Plumb, Jonathan F. Lind, Joseph C. Tucker, Ron Kelley, Ashley D. Spear

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Multi-modal plasma focused ion beam serial section tomography of an organic paint coating

Multi-modal plasma focused ion beam serial section tomography of an organic paint coating

Pigment distributions have a critical role in the corrosion protection properties of organic paint coatings, but they are difficult to image in 3D over statistically significant volumes and at sufficiently high spatial resolutions required for detailed analysis. Here we report, for the first time, large volume analytical serial sectioning tomography of an organic composite coating using a xenon Plasma Focused Ion Beam (PFIB) combined with secondary electron imaging, energy dispersive X-ray (E... Read more

Zhong Xiangli, M. Grace Burke, Philip J. Withers, Zhang Xun, Zhou Xiaorong, Timothy L. Burnett, Liu Yanwen, Stuart B. Lyon, Simon R.Gibbon

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Automated 3D EBSD for metallic powders

Automated 3D EBSD for metallic powders

Metallic powders are commonly used in additive manufacturing processes. While their post-process consolidated properties are widely studied, there is little research on the properties of the powders prior to consolidation. Understanding the powder characteristics before use in additive manufacturing processes could lead to fine-tuning properties of additively manufactured materials. The three-dimensional grain structure of metals can be useful in predicting their properties and ... Read more

Caitlin Walde, Roger Ristau, Danielle Cote

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Revealing the mechanisms by which magneto-hydrodynamics disrupts solidification microstructures

Revealing the mechanisms by which magneto-hydrodynamics disrupts solidification microstructures

A key technique for controlling solidification microstructures is magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD), resulting from imposing a magnetic field to solidifying metals and alloys. Applications range from bulk stirring to flow control and turbulence damping via the induced Lorentz force. Over the past two decades the Lorentz force caused by the interaction of thermoelectric currents and a magnetic field, a MHD phenomenon known as Thermoelectric Magnetohydrodynamics (TEMHD), was also shown to drive inter... Read more

B. Cai, A. Kao, E. Boller, O.V. Magdysyuk, R.C. Atwood, N.T. Vo, K. Pericleous, P.D. Lee

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Tomographic investigation of the effects of second phases on the biodegradation and nano-mechanical performance of a Mg-Zn-Ca alloy

Tomographic investigation of the effects of second phases on the biodegradation and nano-mechanical performance of a Mg-Zn-Ca alloy

A combination of 3D tomography techniques provides direct evidence that links the phase assemblage to the bio-corrosion behaviour of a magnesium-zinc-calcium (Mg-Zn-Ca) alloy. The true shape, connectivity and volume fraction of the components have been determined using focused ion beam (FIB) tomography. The mechanism of the effect of the components with different morphologies on biodegradation was studied with the help of FIB. Micro X-ray CT (MicroCT) was used to investigate the degradation o... Read more

Y.Lu, R.G.Ding, Y.L.Chiu, I.P.Jones

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Cryo-STEM mapping of solid–liquid interfaces and dendrites in lithium-metal batteries

Cryo-STEM mapping of solid–liquid interfaces and dendrites in lithium-metal batteries

Solid–liquid interfaces are important in a range of chemical, physical and biological processes but are often not fully understood owing to the lack of high-resolution characterization methods that are compatible with both solid and liquid components. For example, the related processes of dendritic deposition of lithium metal and the formation of solid–electrolyte interphase layers are known to be key determinants of battery safety and performance in high-energy-density lithium-metal bat... Read more

Michael J. Zachman, Zhengyuan Tu, Snehashis Choudhury, Lynden A. Archer & Lena F. Kourkoutis

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4D imaging of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell catalyst layers by soft X-ray spectro-tomography

4D imaging of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell catalyst layers by soft X-ray spectro-tomography

4D imaging – the three-dimensional distributions of chemical species determined using multi-energy X-ray tomography – of cathode catalyst layers of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEM-FC) has been measured by scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) spectro-tomography at the C 1s and F 1s edges. In order to monitor the effects of radiation damage on the composition and 3D structure of the perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer, the same volume was measu... Read more

Juan Wu, Lis G.A.Melo, Xiaohui Zhu, Marcia M.West, Viatcheslav Berejnov, Darija Susac, Juergen Stumper, Adam P.Hitchcock

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Microstructural evolution and deformation behavior of Al-Cu alloys: A Transmission X-ray Microscopy (TXM) and micropillar compression study

Microstructural evolution and deformation behavior of Al-Cu alloys: A Transmission X-ray Microscopy (TXM) and micropillar compression study

A unique approach to correlating an evolving 3D microstructure in an Al-Cu alloyand its micro-scale mechanical properties has been introduced. Using these nanoscale three-dimensional microstructures derived from Transmission X-rayMicroscopy (TXM), individual contributions from different strengthening mechanisms were quantified. The spatial distribution and morphology of the individual θ′ and θ phases were seen to play an important role in influencing dislocation storage. Uniaxi... Read more

C. Shashank Kaira, Christopher Kantzos, Jason J. Williams, Vincent De Andrade, Francesco De Carlo, Nikhilesh Chawlaa

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3D Electron microscopy characterization of Ag mound-like surface structures made by femtosecond laser surface processing

3D Electron microscopy characterization of Ag mound-like surface structures made by femtosecond laser surface processing

Laser processing of metal surfaces by ultrafast Read more

Edwin Peng, Alexander Roth, Craig A. Zuhlke, Soodabeh Azadehranjbar, Dennis R. Alexander, George Gogos, Jeffrey E. Shield

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The Spontaneous Emulsification of Entrained Inclusions During Casting of High Aluminum Steels

The Spontaneous Emulsification of Entrained Inclusions During Casting of High Aluminum Steels

The cleanliness of liquid steel is defined by the amounts of dissolved unwanted impurities and precipitated unwanted non-metallic phases.[…] Improving the cleanliness of the steel would mean a lower fraction of impurities in the final product. […] A novel approach, utilizing controlled synthetic inclusion/metal samples, has been developed to study the reactions between free inclusion-slag droplets and steel. The technique combines High-Temperature Confocal Scanning Laser Microscop... Read more

Akalya Raviraj, Nadia Kourra, Mark A. Williams, Gert Abbel, Claire Davis, Wouter Tiekink, Seetharaman Sridhar & Stephen Spooner

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Hot-wire arc additive manufacturing of aluminum alloy with reduced porosity and high deposition rate

Hot-wire arc additive manufacturing of aluminum alloy with reduced porosity and high deposition rate

Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) technology has attracted considerable interest in large-scale metallic components, but porosity and low deposition rate are the two dominating technical challenges in WAAM of aluminum alloy. In order to effectively solve these problems, a novel method of hot-wire arc additive manufacturing is used to fabricate aluminum alloy. Systematic studies are carried out to investigate the formation mechanism of the pores, the macro/microstructures, as well as the ... Read more

Rui Fu, Shuiyuan Tang, Jiping Lu, Yinan Cui, Zixiang Li, Haoru Zhang, Tianqiu Xu, Zhuo Chen, Changmeng Liu

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Influence of Copper Addition in AlSi7MgCu Alloy on Microstructure Development and Tensile Strength Improvement

Influence of Copper Addition in AlSi7MgCu Alloy on Microstructure Development and Tensile Strength Improvement

High market demands related to material quality and properties strongly influence redesigning of common safety loaded aluminum alloy castings. The quality of aluminum components and associated obtained mechanical properties are strongly dependent on the casting process and parameters, as well as on the chemical composition. Therefore, the redesigning of chemical composition of high-strength aluminum alloys becomes significant for safety critical structural components in automotive industry.Read more

Davor Stanić, Zdenka Zovko Brodarac, Letian Li

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Processing and Characterization of Bilayer Materials by Solid State Sintering for Orthopedic Applications

Processing and Characterization of Bilayer Materials by Solid State Sintering for Orthopedic Applications

Nowadays, industrial processes demand materials with specific properties and localized microstructures to improve material performance. To satisfy particular needs, the development of materials with changing mechanical properties and/or microstructures along a preferential direction has been developed. These are called Functional Graded Materials (FGMs). Among these materials, a variation on the porosity along the part is very useful for different industrial applications, such as microfiltrat... Read more

Jorge Sergio Téllez-Martínez, Luis Olmos, Víctor Manuel Solorio-García, Héctor Javier Vergara-Hernández, Jorge Chávez, Dante Arteaga

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Defect structure process maps for laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

Defect structure process maps for laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

Accurate detection, characterization, and prediction of defects has great potential for immediate impact in the production of fully-dense and defect free metal additive manufacturing (AM) builds. Accordingly, this paper presents Defect Structure Process Maps (DSPMs) as a means of quantifying the role of porosity as an exemplary defect structure in powder bed printed materials. Synchrotron-based micro-computed tomography (μSXCT) was used to demonstrate that metal AM defects follow predictable... Read more

Jerard V.Gordon, Sneha P.Narra, Ross W.Cunningham, He Liu, Hangman Chen, Robert M.Suter, Jack L.Beuth, Anthony D.Rollett

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Three-dimensional characterization of typical inclusions in steel

Three-dimensional characterization of typical inclusions in steel

The non-metallic inclusions are mostly harmful to the propertiesof the steel products. The effective characterization of the size, morphology, and distribution of the inclusions in steel is a key issue to remove and control the inclusions in the Read more

Zhiqiang Shang, Tao Li; Shufeng Yang, Jianchuan Yan, Han Guod

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Influence of Isothermal Holding on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Electron Beam Welded Dissimilar Inconel 718/ATI 718Plus® Joint

Influence of Isothermal Holding on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Electron Beam Welded Dissimilar Inconel 718/ATI 718Plus® Joint

Inconel 718 (IN718) is the most popular precipitation-strengthened nickel-based superalloy introduced by the Huntington Alloys Division of INCO in 1959 (Ref Read more

Oskar Dziuba, Grzegorz Cempura, Agnieszka Wusatowska-Sarnek & Adam Kruk

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A Neutron Tomographic Analysis of Plated Silver Coins from Ancient Greece Official or Illegal?

A Neutron Tomographic Analysis of Plated Silver Coins from Ancient Greece Official or Illegal?

In the 6th century BC different techniques of coin manufacture were employed by mints in mainland Greece and in the Greek colonies in Southern Italy. In Greece these techniques were evidently derived from the Lydians and consisted in striking a piece of cast metal of predetermined weight (a ‘blank’ or flan) between two engraved dies made of hardened bronze. Colonies in Magna Graecia, however, uniquely developed another set of minting techniques to produce what today is called incuse coina... Read more

Scott Olsen, Filomena Silvemini, Ulf Garbe, Max Avdeev, Joel Davis, Vladimir Luzin, Ken Sheedy

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Towards digital metal additive manufacturing via high-temperature drop-on-demand jetting

Towards digital metal additive manufacturing via high-temperature drop-on-demand jetting

Drop-on-demand jetting of metals offers a fully digital manufacturing approach to surpass the limitations of the current generation powder-based additive manufacturing technologies. However, research on this topic has been restricted mainly to near-net shaping of relatively low melting temperature metals. Here it is proposed a novel approach to jet molten metals at high-temperatures (>1000 °C) to enable the direct digital additive fabrication of micro- to macro-scale objects. […] ... Read more

Marco Simonelli, Nesma Aboulkhair, Mircea Rasa, Mark East, Chris Tuck, Ricky Wildman, Otto Salomons, Richard Hague

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Micropore evolution in additively manufactured aluminum alloys under heat treatment and inter-layer rolling

Micropore evolution in additively manufactured aluminum alloys under heat treatment and inter-layer rolling

Additive manufacturing (AM) of aluminum alloy components has drawn broad attention from industrial customers in recent years. With the advantages of low cost and high deposition rate, wire + arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) has been recognized as a promising AM technology in producing large-scale aluminum alloy structural parts. However, the adverse effect of internal defects on mechanical properties has limited the application of WAAM aluminum alloys. Micropores, as one of the most harmfu... Read more

Jianglong Gu, Shouliang Yang, Minjie Gao, Jing Bai, Yuchun Zhai, Jialuo Ding

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The use of contrast enhancement techniques in X-ray imaging of lithium–ion battery electrodes

The use of contrast enhancement techniques in X-ray imaging of lithium–ion battery electrodes

Understanding the microstructural morphology of Li–ion battery electrodes is crucial to improving the electrochemical performance of current Li–ion battery systems and in developing next-generation power systems. The use of 3D X-ray imaging techniques, which are continuously evolving, provides a noninvasive platform to study the relationship between electrode microstructure and performance at various time and length scales. In addition to characterizing a weakly (X-ray) absorbing graphite... Read more

Oluwadamilola O. Taiwo , Donal P. Finegan , Jeff Gelb , Christian Holzner , Daniel J.L. Brett , Paul R. Shearing

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