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.

Quantifying Microstructural Evolution in Moving Magma
Many of the grand challenges in volcanic and magmatic research are focused on understanding the dynamics of highly heterogeneous systems and the critical conditions that enable magmas to move or eruptions to initiate. However, we are usually unable to observe the processes directly. Here we give a short synopsis of the new capabilities and highlight the potential insights that in situ observation can provide. We present the first 3D data showing the evolving textural heterogeneity within a sh... Read more
Katherine J. Dobson1, Anja Allabar, Eloise Bretagne, Jason Coumans, Mike Cassidy, Corrado Cimarelli, Rebecca Coats, Thomas Connolley, Loic Courtois, Donald B. Dingwell, Danilo Di Genova, Benjamin Fernando, Julie L. Fife, Frey Fyfe, Stephan Gehne, Thomas Jones, Jackie E. Kendrick, Helen Kinvig, Stephan Kolzenburg, Yan Lavallée, Emma Liu, Edward W. Llewellin, Amber Madden-Nadeau, Kamel Madi, Federica Marone, Cerith Morgan, Julie Oppenheimer, Anna Ploszajski, Gavin Reid, Jenny Schauroth, Christian M. Schlepütz, Catriona Sellick, Jérémie Vasseur, Felix W. von Aulock, Fabian B. Wadsworth, Sebastian Wiesmaier and Kaz Wanelik

A virtual testing platform for filter materials and textile masks
In order to provide the population with consistent and science-based advice on preferred materials for face masks, we are characterizing the microstructure of different materials using X-ray microfocus computed tomography (microCT), and we use these datasets to simulate the pressure drop (i.e. measure for breathability). We validate our measurements with physically measured filter efficiency and pressure drop, and in this way, we try to develop a “virtual testing platform” for the charac... Read more
The ContrasTTeam of Prof. dr. Greet Kerckhofs, UCLouvain and MTM

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

3D characterisation of dry powder inhaler formulations
Carrier-based dry powder inhaler (DPI) formulations need to be accurately characterised for their particle size distributions, surface roughnesses, fines contents and flow properties. Understanding the micro-structure of the powder formulation is crucial, yet current characterisation methods give incomplete information. Commonly used techniques like laser diffraction (LD) and optical microscopy (OM) are limited due to the assumption of sphericity and can give variable results depending on par... Read more
P. Gajjar, I.D. Styliari, T.T.H. Nguyen, J. Carr, X. Chen, J.A. Elliott, R.B. Hammond, T.L. Burnett, K. Roberts, P.J. Withers, D.Murnane

Lithium aluminum titanium phosphate (LATP) is one of the materials under consideration as an electrolyte in future all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries. In ceramic processing, the presence of secondary phases and porosity play an important role. In a presence of more than one secondary phase and pores, image analysis must tackle the difficulties about distinguishing between these microstructural features. In this study, we study the phase evolution of LATP ceramics sintered at temperatures b... Read more
Deniz Cihan GUNDUZ, Roland SCHIERHOLZ, Shicheng YUa, Hermann TEMPEL, Hans KUNGL, Rüdiger-A. EICHEL

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

An Anisotropic Microstructure Evolution in a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode
A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is an electrochemical device that converts the chemical energy of hydrogen directly into electricity. A single cell usually has a form of a flat plate in which an impervious and dense ion-conducting electrolyte is sandwiched between two porous catalytic electrodes: an anode and a cathode. Fuel is fed to the anode side, and the air is supplied to the cathode. The gasses cannot mix to avoid unproductive combustion. Instead, gasses hit catalyst material, lose their... Read more
Grzegorz Brus, Hiroshi Iwai, Janusz S. Szmyd

The microstructure morphologies have been characterized by high resolution laboratory X-ray computed tomography in Carbon Fiber Reinforced Carbon and Silicon Carbide (C/C-SiC) ceramic composites fabricated by Gaseous Silicon Infiltration (GSI) from C/C preforms of three different architectures: 3D stitched cloth fabric; 3D orthogonal woven fabric; and needled short-cut felt. Each composites’ microstructure was influenced by the structure of the C/C preform. By incorporating tomography with ... Read more
Fan Wan, Talha, J. Pirzada, Rongjun Liu, Yanfei Wang, Changrui Zhang, Thomas James Marrow

The prevailing electrode fabrication method for lithium-ion battery electrodes includes calendering at high pressures to densify the electrode and promote adhesion to the metal current collector.
However, this process increases the tortuosity of the pore network in the primary transport direction and imposes severe tradeoffs between electrode thickness and rate capability. With the aim of understanding the impact of pore tortuosity on electrode kinetics, and enabling cell designs with ... Read more
Benjamin Delattre, Ruhul Amin, Jonathan Sander, Joël De Coninck, Antoni P. Tomsia and Yet-Ming Chiang

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

Among natural cellular materials, pomelo peels, having a foam-like hierarchical microstructure, represent an ideal model for developing materials with high energy absorption efficiency. In this work, by combining X-ray tomographic imaging technique and digital volume correlation (DVC), in-situ stepwise uniaxial compression tests were performed to quantify the internal morphological evolution and kinematic responses of pomelo peel samples during compression.
Read more
B.Wang, B.Pan, G.Lubineau

Three-Dimensional In Situ XCT Characterisation and FE Modelling of Cracking in Concrete
An improved understanding of 3D cracking in concrete can be achieved by multiscale experiments and numerical modelling based on realistic microstructures, for the development of materials with higher strength, durability, and fracture resistance.
Three-dimensional (3D) characterisation and modelling of cracking in concrete have been always of great importance and interest in civil engineering. In this study, an in situ microscale X-ray computed tomography (XCT) test was carried out to ... Read more
Wenyuan Ren, Zhenjun Yang, Rajneesh Sharma, Samuel A. McDonald, Paul M. Mummery

Experimental study on the cracking process of layered shale using X-ray microCT
The cracking process in Longmaxi formation shale was experimentally studied during uniaxial compressive loading. Both the evolution of the three-dimensional fracture network and the micromechanics of failure in the layered shale were examined as a function of the inclination angle of the bedding plane. To visualize the cracking process, the test devices presented here used an industrial X-ray CT scanner that enabled scanning during the uniaxial compressive loading. Scanning electron microscop... Read more
Institue of Geomechanic, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Laboratory of Shale Oil & Gas, Beijing, China

Fragmentation of wall rock garnets during deep crustal earthquakes
Deformation of the lithosphere by seismic slip along faults dissipates energy to the immediate surroundings as heat and elastic waves. Heat effects may occasionally cause frictional melting along the slip plane, leading to the formation of pseudotachylite, a characteristic fine-grained or glassy fault rock, interpreted as the quenched melt. Recently, it has been suggested that mechanical effects due to rapid loading, such as the formation of shiny “mirror” surfaces or pulverization of roc... Read more
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo; Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University; Géosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier; Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University

Multiscale tomographic analysis of the thermal failure of Na-Ion batteries
In recent years, the ability to examine the processes that cause the catastrophic failure of batteries as a result of thermal runaway has improved substantially. In this work, the effect of thermal runaway on the microstructure of the electrodes of a Na-ion battery is examined using X-ray computed tomography for the first time. The thermal failure induced via accelerating rate calorimetry enabled the examination of failed electrodes, which were subsequently compared with fresh s... Read more
Robinson, J. B., Heenan, T. M. M., Jervis, J. R., Tan, C., Kendrick, E., Brett, D. J. L., & Shearing, P. R.

In situ compression and X-ray computed tomography of flow battery electrodes
Redox flow batteries offer a potential solution to an increase in renewable energy generation on the grid by offering long-term, large-scale storage and regulation of power. However, they are currently underutilised due to cost and performance issues, many of which are linked to the microstructure of the porous carbon electrodes used. Here, for the first time, we offer a detailed study of the in situ effects of compression on a commercially available carbon felt electrode. Visualisation ... Read more
Rhodri Jervis , Matt D.R. Kok , Tobias P. Neville , Quentin Meyer , Leon D. Brown , Francesco Iacoviello , Jeff T. Gostick , Dan J.L. Brett , Paul R. Shearing

In this paper a fully three dimensional, multiphase, micro-scale solid oxide fuel cellanode transport phenomena numerical model is proposed and verified. The Butler-Volmer model was combined with empirical relations for conductivity and diffusivity – notably the Fuller-Shetler-Giddings equation, and the Fickian modelfor transport of gas reagents. FIB-SEM tomography of a commercial SOFC stack anode was performed and the resulting images were processed to acquire input data. ... Read more
Tomasz A. Prokop, Katarzyna Berent, Hiroshi Iwai, Janusz S.Szmyd, Grzegorz Brus

Evaluating microstructure evolution in an SOFC electrode using digital volume correlation
Degradation mechanisms within solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) during thermal cycling limit operational start-up times and cell lifetime, and must therefore be better understood and mitigated. This work explores such mechanisms using digital volume correlation (DVC) techniques applied to lab-based X-ray tomograms where the microstructural evolution is evaluated during the operational cycling of a Ni–YSZ/YSZ cell. To emulate reduced start-up times, five tomograms were collected over four operat... Read more
T. M. M. Heenan, X. Lu,, D. P. Finegan,, J. Robinson, F. Iacoviello, J. J. Bailey, D. J. L. Brett and P. R. Shearing

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries operate via electrochemical reactions between positive and negative electrodes, formed by complex porous microstructures. An improved understanding of these materials can lead to a greater insight into the link between microscopic electrode morphology and macroscopic performance. The practice of calendering electrodes after manufacturing has been widely used to increase the volumetric energy density and improve the electrical contact between electrode... Read more
S. R. Daemi,X. Lu, D. Sykes, J. Behnsen, C. Tan, A. Palacios-Padros, J. Cookson, E. Petrucco, P. J. Withers, D. J. L. Brett and P. R. Shearing

High performance anode with dendritic porous structure for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells
A dendritic porous supported microstructure simultaneously creates small pore size and broad gas diffusion pathways in a solid oxide fuel cell anode membrane. This microstructure also achieves pore sizes that reduce with increasing depth within the membrane without increasing the structure tortuosity. Such a microstructure supplies high triple phase boundary density, fast gas diffusion and low polarization resistance. Here we characterise the performance of a porous anode with such a dendriti... Read more
Xin Shao, William D.A. Rickard, Dehua Dong, Huu Dang , Martin Saunders, Aaron Dodd, Gordon Parkinson, Chun-Zhu Li

Growing popularity and rapid development of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) stem for their potential to become a gamechanger in the field of clean power generation technologies.
In this paper, a transient microstructure-oriented numerical simulation of a planar Direct Internal Reforming Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (DIR-SOFC) is delivered. The performance criteria in a direct steam reforming for a fuel starvation scenario are analyzed in order to optimize the underlying process. The proposed t... Read more
Maciej Chalusiak, Michal Wrobel, Marcin Mozdzierz, Katarzyna Berent, Janusz S. Szmyd, Shinji Kimijima, Grzegorz Brus