Welcome to the Amira-Avizo Software Use Case Gallery

Multiphase flow in porous media is strongly influenced by the wettability of the system, which affects the arrangement of the interfaces of different phases residing in the pores.

We present a method for estimating the effective contact angle, which quantifies the wettability and controls the local capillary pressure within the complex pore space of natural rock samples, based on the physical constraint of constant curvature of the interface between two fluids. This algorithm is ... Read more

Lifetime-limiting failure of fuel cell membranes is generally attributed to their chemical and/or mechanical degradation. Although both of these degradation modes occur concurrently during operational duty cycles, their uncoupled investigations can provide useful insights into their individual characteristics and consequential impacts on the overall membrane failure.

X-ray computed tomography is emerging as an advantageous tool for fuel cell failure analysis due to its non-destructive ... Read more

Ni-YSZ anodes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells are vulnerable to microstructural damage during redox cycling leading to a decrease in the electrochemical performance.

• Quantification of redox damage by coupling 3D tomography, EIS and nanoindentation.
• YSZ fracture, Ni detachment and agglomeration led to irreversible mechanical damage.
• Ni nanoparticles obtained upon redox cycling improve electrochemical performance.
• Loss in TPB densi... Read more

Electrospun all-fiber flexible supercapacitor with nanofiber electrodes/separator.

• Increased graphitic degree with the addition of MnACAC and thermal decomposition.
• Enhanced capacitive performance with the addition of MnO.
• Quantified nanofiber alignment and increased bias with MnO over undoped fibers.
• FIBSEM tomography of nanofibers showing MnO disitribution in carbon nanofibers.

We present an all-fiber flexible supercapacitor with compo... Read more

Angiosperm-dominated floras of the Late Cretaceous are essential for understanding the evolutionary, ecological, and geographic radiation of flowering plants.

The Late Cretaceous–early Paleogene Deccan Intertrappean Beds of India contain angiosperm-dominated plant fossil assemblages known from multiple localities in central India. Numerous monocots have been documented from these assemblages, providing a window into an important but poorly understood time in their diversification. On... Read more

Our parametric study shows that increasing the porosity in the spongy layer beyond 10% enhances the effective transport parameters of the spongy layer at an exponential rate, but linearly for the full anode. For the first time, local and global mass transport properties are correlated to the microstructure, which is of wide interest for rationalizing the design optimization of SOFC electrodes and more generally for hierarchical materials in batteries and membranes.

In this study, a series of alumina hollow fibers have been prepared with varied polymer binder (polyethersulfone, PESf) concentration and new polymer-based internal coagulant (aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol, PVA). For the first time, the micro-channels were characterized in 3D using X-ray CT to determine micro-channel densities and diameters in the radial direction, as well as the 2D measurement of the pore size in the sponge-like layer.

An eosauropterygian skeleton found in the Middle Triassic (upper Anisian) Gutenstein Formation of the Fatric Unit (Demänovská dolina Valley, Low Tatra Mountains, Slovakia) represents the earliest known occurrence of marine tetrapods in the Western Carpathians. The specimen represents a partly articulated portion of the postcranial skeleton (nine dorsal vertebrae, coracoid, ribs, gastral ribs, pelvic girdle, femur and one zeugopodial element). It is assigned to the Pachypleurosauria, more pr... Read more

Leaellynasaura amicagraphica was a small, bipedal, herbivorous dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (~106 million years ago) of Australia within the Antarctic Circle of that time.

Synchrotron scans, and the resulting 3D reconstruction of the skull and post-cranial skeleton, provide a unique view of the morphology of Leaellynasaura, and allows this material to be 3D printed for display.

Paleontological research increasingly uses high-resolution micro-computed tomography (μCT) to study the inner architecture of modern and fossil bone material to answer important questions regarding vertebrate evolution. This non-destructive method allows for the measurement of otherwise inaccessible morphology. Digital measurement is predicated on the accurate segmentation of modern or fossilized bone from other structures imaged in μCT scans, as errors in segmentation can result in inaccur... Read more

The authors present for the first time a new methodology of contrast enhancement for 3D imaging, including novel advanced quantification, on a commercial Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) LiFePO₄ cathode. The aim of this work is to improve the quality of the 3D imaging of challenging battery materials by developing methods to increase contrast between otherwise previously poorly differentiated phases. This is necessary to enable capture of the real geometry of electrode microstructures... Read more

Food and detergent products are composed of complex micro structures. With modern microscopic techniques we can make them visible. The microstructure greatly affects macroscopic properties such as appearance, taste, mouth feel and solubility. Making these structures visible and quantifying them is essential to the development of products with optimal product properties. A broad range of imaging techniques is used to visualize microstructure elements at different length scales. For example, X-... Read more

We demonstrate that phase retrieval and tomographic imaging at the organ level of small animals can be advantageously carried out using the monochromatic radiation emitted by a compact x-ray light source, without further optical elements apart from source and detector. This approach allows to carry out microtomography experiments which – due to the large performance gap with respect to conventional laboratory instruments – so far were usually limited to synchrotron sources. We dem... Read more

Here, a review of tortuosity calculation procedures applied in the field of electrochemical devices is presented to better understand the resulting values presented in the literature. Visible differences between calculation methods are observed, especially when using porosity–tortuosity relationships and when comparing geometric and flux-based tortuosity calculation approaches.

The use of novel multi-scale correlative methods, which involve the coordinated characterization of matter across a range of length scales, are becoming of increasing value to materials scientists. Here, we describe for the first time how a multi-scale correlative approach can be used to investigate the nature of ductile fracture in metals. Specimens of a nuclear pressure vessel steel, SA508 Grade 3, are examined following ductile fracture using medium and high-resolution 3D X-ray computed to... Read more

In this paper, porous sintered glass bead packings are studied, using X-ray Computed Tomography (XRCT) images at 16μm16μm voxel resolution, to obtain not only the porosity field, but also other properties like particle sizes, pore throats and the permeability. The influence of the sintering procedure and the original particle size distributions on the microstructure, and thus on the hydraulic properties, is analyzed in detail. The XRCT data are visualized and studied by advanced image fil... Read more

Physical characteristics critical to chromatography including geometric porosity and tortuosity within the packed column were analysed based upon three dimensional reconstructions of bed structure in-situ. Image acquisition was performed using two X-ray computed tomography systems, with optimisation of column imaging performed for each sample in order to produce three dimensional representations of packed beds at 3 μm resolution.

The loss of hearing structures and loss of advertisement calls in many terrestrial breeding frogs (Strabomantidae) living at high elevations in South America are common and intriguing phenomena. The Andean frog genus Phrynopus Peters, 1873 has undergone an evolutionary radiation in which most species lack the tympanic membrane and tympanic annulus, yet the phylogenetic relationships among species in this group remain largely unknown. Here, we present an expanded molecular phylogeny o... Read more

Beamtime and resulting SRμCT data are a valuable resource for researchers of a broad scientific community in life sciences. Most research groups, however, are only interested in a specific organ and use only a fraction of their data. The rest of the data usually remains untapped. By using a new collaborative approach, the NOVA project (Network for Online Visualization and synergistic Analysis of tomographic data) aims to demonstrate, that more efficient use of the valuable beam time is possi... Read more

Lasers for Innovative Solutions, LLC (L4iS) is developing a new class of tomography technology with the aim of allowing material characterization in three dimensions with sub-micron resolution. The method uses a nanosecond, Q-switched, pulsed ultraviolet laser coupled with high-resolution imaging to generate highly detailed specimen models. Using this system, sequential images similar to light-sheet fluorescence microscopy are used to digitally reconstruct the specimen.

The characterization of the porosity of ground layers in easel paintings: a first step towards understanding its role in water uptake, reactivity and material transport in 19th and early 20th century paintings. The Swiss Institute for Art Research (SIK-ISEA) is studying the studio practice of Swiss painters of the late 19th early 20th century, the materials they used for their paintings, and the deterioration processes the paintings undergo as they age.

Amongst other issues this study... Read more