Search results for "X-ray tomography"
showing 10 items of 28 documents
How and why does willow biochar increase a clay soil water retention capacity?
2018
Addition of biochar into a soil changes its water retention properties by modifying soil textural and structural properties. In addition, internal micrometer-scale porosity that is able to directly store readily plant available water affects soil water retention properties. This study shows how precise knowledge of the internal micrometer-scale pore size distribution of biochar can deepen the understanding of the biochar-water interactions in soils. The micrometer-scale porosity of willow biochar was quantitatively and qualitatively characterized using X-ray tomography, 3D image analysis and Helium ion microscopy. The effect of biochar application on clay soil water retention was studied by…
Effects of pyrolysis temperature on the hydrologically relevant porosity of willow biochar
2018
Biochar pore space consists of porosity of multiple length scales. In direct water holding applications like water storage for plant water uptake, the main interest is in micrometre-range porosity since these pores are able to store water that is easily available for plants. Gas adsorption measurements which are commonly used to characterize the physical pore structure of biochars are not able to quantify this pore-size range. While pyrogenetic porosity (i.e. pores formed during pyrolysis process) tends to increase with elevated process temperature, it is uncertain whether this change affects the pore space capable to store plant available water. In this study, we characterized biochar poro…
A unique microstructure of the fiber networks deposited from foam-fiber suspensions
2015
Abstract Fiber networks can be formed using aqueous foam as the suspending medium. The mean bubble size of the foam affects the resulting pore-size distribution of the fiber network. The foam–fiber interactions cause in particular an increase in the proportion of large micropores of the network, in comparison with the fiber networks that result from traditional water forming at a similar material density. Experiments were carried out for two different types of cellulose fiber, and characterization of the resulting pore structure was based on X-ray microtomography of the resulting fiber networks. The unique pore structure obtained with foam forming was reflected in various macroscopic proper…
X-ray tomographic method for measuring three-dimensional deformation and water content distribution in swelling clays
2015
A non-invasive method for simultaneous measurement of the 3D displacement field and the water content distribution of a wetted solid material is developed. The method is based on comparison of X-ray tomographic images of a material sample in the reference state and in the wetted and deformed state. The deformation and water content analyses were successfully compared with numerical results for a cylindrical rubber test sample under axial compression, and with gravimetric results from axially wetted and sliced cylindrical bentonite samples, respectively. The methods were applied in a 4D study (three spatial dimensions and time) of wetting and deformation of purified swelling bentonite doped …
Partial Data Problems and Unique Continuation in Scalar and Vector Field Tomography
2022
AbstractWe prove that if P(D) is some constant coefficient partial differential operator and f is a scalar field such that P(D)f vanishes in a given open set, then the integrals of f over all lines intersecting that open set determine the scalar field uniquely everywhere. This is done by proving a unique continuation property of fractional Laplacians which implies uniqueness for the partial data problem. We also apply our results to partial data problems of vector fields.
Pestov identities and X-ray tomography on manifolds of low regularity
2021
We prove that the geodesic X-ray transform is injective on scalar functions and (solenoidally) on one-forms on simple Riemannian manifolds $(M,g)$ with $g \in C^{1,1}$. In addition to a proof, we produce a redefinition of simplicity that is compatible with rough geometry. This $C^{1,1}$-regularity is optimal on the H\"older scale. The bulk of the article is devoted to setting up a calculus of differential and curvature operators on the unit sphere bundle atop this non-smooth structure.
Torus computed tomography
2020
We present a new computed tomography (CT) method for inverting the Radon transform in 2D. The idea relies on the geometry of the flat torus, hence we call the new method Torus CT. We prove new inversion formulas for integrable functions, solve a minimization problem associated to Tikhonov regularization in Sobolev spaces and prove that the solution operator provides an admissible regularization strategy with a quantitative stability estimate. This regularization is a simple post-processing low-pass filter for the Fourier series of a phantom. We also study the adjoint and the normal operator of the X-ray transform on the flat torus. The X-ray transform is unitary on the flat torus. We have i…
X-ray nanotomography and electron backscatter diffraction demonstrate the crystalline, heterogeneous and impermeable nature of conodont white matter
2021
Conodont elements, microfossil remains of extinct primitive vertebrates, are commonly exploited as mineral archives of ocean chemistry, yielding fundamental insights into the palaeotemperature and chemical composition of past oceans. Geochemical assays have been traditionally focused on the so-called lamellar and white matter crown tissues; however, the porosity and crystallographic nature of the white matter and its inferred permeability are disputed, raising concerns over its suitability as a geochemical archive. Here, we constrain the characteristics of this tissue and address conflicting interpretations using ptychographic X-ray-computed tomography (PXCT), pore network analysis, synchro…
Tensor tomography in periodic slabs
2017
The X-ray transform on the periodic slab $[0,1]\times\mathbb T^n$, $n\geq0$, has a non-trivial kernel due to the symmetry of the manifold and presence of trapped geodesics. For tensor fields gauge freedom increases the kernel further, and the X-ray transform is not solenoidally injective unless $n=0$. We characterize the kernel of the geodesic X-ray transform for $L^2$-regular $m$-tensors for any $m\geq0$. The characterization extends to more general manifolds, twisted slabs, including the M\"obius strip as the simplest example.
X-ray tomographic method for measuring 3D deformation and liquid content in swelling materials
2015
A non-invasive method for measuring the three-dimensional displacement field and liquid content distribution in a wetting and swelling material using X-ray tomographic imaging is introduced. The method is demonstrated here in monitoring the evolution of 3D deformation and water content distributions in cylindrical samples of swelling clay material wetted in a constant total volume. The measurements were carried out using a high-resolution microtomographic device (SkyScan 1172) and image voxel size 24 µm. The results obtained are repeatable and appear qualitatively correct and plausible. They are useful e.g. in validating models involving transport of water and the resulting deformation of s…