Application of three-dimensional digital image processing for reconstruction of microstructural volume from serial sections
Three-dimensional digital image processing is useful for reconstruction of microstructural volume from a stack of serial sections. Application of this technique is demonstrated via reconstruction of a volume segment of the liquid-phase sintered microstructure of a tungsten heavy alloy processed in the microgravity environment of NASA's space shuttle, Columbia. Ninety serial sections (approximately one micrometer apart) were used for reconstruction of the three-dimensional microstructure. The three-dimensional microstructural reconstruction clearly revealed that the tungsten grains are almost completely connected in three-dimensional space. Both the matrix and the grains are topologically co-continuous, although the alloy was liquid-phase sintered in microgravity. Therefore, absence of gravity did not produced a microstructure consisting of discrete isolated W grains uniformly dispersed in the liquid Ni-Fe alloy matrix at the sintering temperature.
- Research Organization:
- Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta, GA (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20050560
- Journal Information:
- Materials Characterization, Vol. 44, Issue 3; Other Information: PBD: Mar 2000; ISSN 1044-5803
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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