Abstract
Although there has been much research of cracks of the cement-based materials using optical and electron microscopy two-dimensional (2D) imaging methods, the real three-dimensional (3D) crack shapes have not previously been revealed. Thanks to the focused ion beam (FIB) tomography and the follow-up image processing, two 3D subsurface cracks and a cluster of inner cracks were picked out and discussed in this research. It was found that the subsurface crack (its length is about 15 μm, width about 1–5 μm, and opening about 1 μm) was much larger than the inner crack (its length and width are about 1–5 μm, opening is from 200 nm to 1 μm), which arose from the sample preparation process. Besides, it was revealed that most of the inner cracks were in the form of clusters.
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Wan, K., Sun, W., Tang, C. et al. Three-dimensional analysis of micro defect morphologies in cement-based materials using focused ion beam tomography. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 55, 1539–1544 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-012-4780-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-012-4780-2