Abstract
X-ray computed micro tomography (CT) is an alternative technique to the classical methods such as mercury intrusion (MIP) and gas pycnometry (HP) to obtain the porosity, pore-size distribution, and density of porous materials. Besides the advantage of being a nondestructive method, it gives not only bulk properties, but also spatially resolved information. In the present work, uniaxially pressed porous alumina performs activated by titanium were analyzed with both the classical techniques and CT. The benefits and disadvantages of the applied measurement techniques were pointed out and discussed. With the generated data, development was proposed for an infiltration model under ideal conditions for the production of metal matrix composites (MMC) by pressureless melt infiltration of porous ceramic preforms. Therefore, the reliability of the results, received from different investigation techniques, was proved statistically and stereologically.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
D.B. Miracle: Metal matrix composites—From science to technological significance. Comp. Sci. Technol. 65, 2526 (2005).
M.N. Rittner: Metal Matrix Composites in the 21st Century: Markets and Opportunities (GB-108R, BCC, Inc., Brownfield, TX, 2000), p. 184.
A. Evans, C. San Marchi, and A. Mortensen: Metal Matrix Composites in Industry—An Introduction and a Survey (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2003), p. 423.
N. Eustathopoulos and A. Mortensen: Capillary phenomena, interfacial bonding and reactivity, in Fundamentals of Metal Matrix Composites edited by S. Suresh, A. Mortensen and A. Needleman (Butterworth-Heinemann, Stoneham, UK, 1993), p. 42.
M. Rosso: Ceramic and metal matrix composites: Routes and properties. J. Mater. Proc. Technol. 175, 364 (2006).
F.L. Matthews and R.D. Rawlings: Composite Materials: Engineering and Science, 4th ed. (Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2003), p. 470.
K. Lemster, U.E. Klotz, S. Fischer, P. Gasser, and J. Kübler: Titanium as an activator material for producing metal matrix composites (MMC) by melt infiltration (Ti-2003, Proc. Conf. Titan. 10, Wiley VCH, Hamburg, Germany, 2003), pp. 2515–2522.
J. Kübler, K. Lemster, P. Gasser, U.E. Klotz, and T. Graule: MMCs by activated melt infiltration: High-melting alloys and oxide ceramics, presented at the 28th International Cocoa Beach Conference and Exposition on Advanced Ceramics & Composites (Cocoa Beach, FL, 2004; unpublished).
K. Lemster, T. Graule, and J. Kübler: Processing and microstructure of metal matrix composites prepared by pressureless Ti-activated infiltration using Fe-base and Ni-base alloys. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 393, 229 (2005).
N. Eustathopoulos and B. Drevet: Determination of the nature of metal–oxide interfacial interactions from sessile drop data. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 249, 176 (1998).
N. Eustathopoulos, M.G. Nicholas, and B. Drevet: Wettability at High Temperatures, Pergamon Material Series, Vol. 3, edited by R.W. Cahn (Pergamon, Oxford, UK, 1999), p. 106.
E. Saiz, R.M. Cannon, and A.P. Tomsia: Reactive spreading: Adsorption, ridging and compound formation. Acta Mater. 48, 4449 (2000).
C. Wan, P. Kristalis, B. Drevet, and N. Eustathopoulos: Optimization of wettability and adhesion in reactive nickel-based alloys/alumina systems by a thermodynamic approach. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 207, 181 (1996).
M.J. Moura, P.J. Ferreira, and M.M. Figueiro: Mercury intrusion porosimetry in pulp and paper technology. Powder Technol. 160, 61 (2005).
A. Carlos and Léon y Léon: New perspectives in mercury porosimetry. Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 76-77, 341 (1998).
L. Palacio, P. Pradanos, and J.I. Calvo: Porosity measurements by a gas penetration method and other techniques applied to membrane characterization. Thin Solid Films 348, 22 (1999).
V. Karageorgiou and D. Kaplan: Porosity of 3D biomaterial scaffolds and osteogenesis. Biomaterials 26, 5474 (2005).
R.A. Cook and K.C. Hover: Mercury porosimetry of hardened cement pastes. Cem. Concr. Res. 29, 933 (1999).
G. de With and H.J. Glass: Reliability and reproducibility of mercury intrusion porosimetry. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 17, 753 (1997).
Y.M. Chiang, D.P. Birnie III, and W.D. Kingery: Principles for ceramic science and engineering, in Physical Ceramics, edited by C. Robichaud (John Wiley & Sons, Brisbane, Australia 1997) p. 263.
Y. Wu, G.S.P Castle, and I.I. Inculet: Particle size analysis in the study of induction charging of granular materials. J. Electrost. 63, 189 (2005).
O. Gauthier, R. Mueller, D. von Stechow, B. Lamy, P. Weiss, J.M. Bouler, E. Aguado, and G. Daculsi: In vivo bone regeneration with injectable calcium phosphate biomaterial: A three-dimensional micro-computed tomographic, biomechanical and SEM study. Biomaterials 26, 5444 (2005).
K. Belaroui, M.N. Pons, and H. Vivier: Morphological characterization of gibbsite and alumina. Powder Technol. 127, 246 (2002).
R. Xu and O.A. di Guida: Comparison of sizing small particles using different technologies. Powder Technol. 132, 145 (2003).
M.A. Schiavon, E. Radovanovic, and I.V.P Yoshida: Microstructural characterization of monolithic ceramic-matrix composites from polysiloxane SiC powder. Powder Technol. 123, 232 (2002).
Z. Ma, H.G. Merkus, J.G.A.E. de Smet, C. Heffels, and B. Scarlett: New developments in particle characterization by laser diffraction: Size and shape. Powder Technol. 111, 66 (2000).
S. Igarashi, A. Watanabe, and M. Kawamura: Evaluation of capillary pore size characteristics in high-strength concrete at early ages. Cem. Concr. Res. 35, 513 (2005).
S. Brunauer, Ph. Emmett, and E. Teller: Adsorption of gases in multimolecular layers. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 60, 309 (1938).
I. Langmuir: Vapor pressures, evaporation, condensation and adsorption. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 54, 2798 (1932).
R. Yang and N.R. Buenfeld: Binary segmentation of aggregate in SEM image analysis of concrete. Cem. Concr. Res. 31, 437 (2001).
S.T. Ho and W.A. Hutmacher: A comparison of micro CT with other techniques used in the characterization of scaffolds. Biomaterials 27, 1362 (2006).
J. Matejicek, B. Kolman, J. Dubsky, K. Neufuss, N. Hopkins, and J. Zwick: Alternative methods for determination of composition and porosity in abradable materials. Mater. Charact. 57, 17 (2006).
L. Farber, G. Tardos, and J.N. Michaels: Use of x-ray tomography to study the porosity and morphology of granules. Powder Technol. 132, 57 (2003).
S. Blacher, A. Leonard, B. Heinrichs, N. Tcherkassova, F. Ferauche, M. Crine, P. Marchot, E. Loukine, and J.P. Pirard: Image analysis of x-ray microtomograms of Pd–Ag/SiO2 xerogel catalysts supported on Al2O3 foams. Colloid Surf. A-Physicochem. Eng. Asp. 241, 201 (2004).
I.G. Watson, M.F. Forster, P.D. Lee, R.J. Dashwood, R.W. Hamilton, and A. Chrazi: Investigation of the clustering behaviour of titanium diboride particles in aluminium. Compos. Pt. A-Appl. Sci. Manuf. Investigation 26, 1177 (2005).
A. Velhinho, P.D. Sequeira, R. Martins, G. Vignoles, F.B. Fernandes, J.D. Botas, and L.A. Rocha: X-ray tomographic imaging of Al/SiCp functionally graded composites fabricated by centrifugal casting. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B-Beam Interact Mater. Atoms 200, 295 (2003).
A. Borbély, F.F. Csikor, S. Zabler, P. Cloetens, and H. Biermann: Three-dimensional characterization of the microstructure of a metal-matrix composite by holotomography. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 367, 40 (2006).
R.A. Ketcham and W.D. Carlson: Acquisition, optimization and interpretation of x-ray computed tomographic imaginery: Applications to the geosciences. Comput. Geosci. 27, 381 (2001).
C.L. Lin and J.D. Miller: Pore structure and network analysis of filter cake. Powder Technol. 154, 61 (2005).
E. Masad, S. Saadeh, T. Al-Rousan, T.E. Garboczi, and D. Little: Computations of particle surface characteristics using optical and x-ray CT images. Comput. Mater. Sci. 34, 406 (2005).
E. Maire, A. Fazekas, L. Salvo, R. Dendievel, S. Youssef, P. Cloetens, and J.M. Letang: X-ray tomography applied to the characterization of cellular materials: Related finite element modelling problems. Compos. Sci. Technol. 63, 2431 (2003).
A.A. Proussevitch and D.L. Saghagian: Recognition and separation of dicrete objects within complex 3D voxelized structures. Comput. Geosci. 27, 441 (2001).
M. Coster and J.L. Chermant: Image analysis and mathematical morphology for civil engineering materials. Cem. Concr. Compos. 23, 133 (2001).
F. Natterer: Numerical methods in tomography. Acta Numerica 8, 107 (1999).
L. Salvo, P. Cloetens, E. Maire, S. Zabler, J.J. Blandin, J.Y. Buffière, W. Ludwig, E. Boller, D. Bellet, and C. Josserond: X-ray micro-tomography an attractive characterization technique in material science. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B–Beam Interact. Mater. Atoms 200, 273 (2003).
E.E. Underwood: Quantitative Stereology (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1970).
A. Saotome, R. Yoshinaka, M. Osada, and H. Sugiyama: Constituent material properties and clast-size distribution of volcanic breccia. Eng. Geol. 64, 1 (2002).
L.A. Feldkamp, L.C. Davis, and J.W. Kress: Practical cone-beam algorithm. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 1, 612 (1984).
Y.H. Xu and H.C. Pitot: An improved stereologic method for three-dimensional estimation of particle size distribution from observations in two dimensions and its application. Comp. Meth. 72, 1 (2003).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vasić, S., Grobéty, B., Kuebler, J. et al. X-ray computed micro tomography as complementary method for the characterization of activated porous ceramic preforms. Journal of Materials Research 22, 1414–1424 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2007.0181
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2007.0181