High-resolution µCT-System with in-situ material testing and structural-mechanical 3D-analysis

• Subject Area: Construction Engineering and Architecture
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 580817620

The proposal is for a high-resolution micro-computed tomography system (µCT), which will be used to achieve in-depth material characterisation under mechanical, physical and chemical influences. The materials to be analysed are mineral-bonded composites and construction materials, metals, soils and asphalt, while the effects under consideration include mechanical loads, temperature, moisture and chemical and biological attacks. The µCT thus covers essential areas in the field construction engineering and investigates complex mechanisms related to the durability of the infrastructure, innovative composites as well as environmental aspects. The µCT is able to visualise different object sizes in very high resolution in a largely automated manner. This serves to recognise the decisive material phases (e.g. pores, hydrate phases) and to describe and quantify associated damage processes and their development (e.g. microcracks, expansive reactions). The material behaviour under external influences is to be investigated in-situ. For this purpose, a fully integrated testing device is also being applied for, which enables compression, tensile and bending tests under a load of up to 5 kN and thermal conditions from -20 °C to +160 °C. A high temporal resolution of the analysed processes is necessary in order to avoid significant creep processes in the scanned, in-situ loaded specimens. The complex compositions and microstructures of the materials to be examined require special software for the semantic segmentation of individual material phases and microdefects as well as their precise quantification in terms of size, geometry, content, distribution and orientation, which is not possible with simple parametric algorithms or only on the basis of grey values. For this purpose, an 3D-analysis software will be applied, whose segmentation algorithms are based on the principle of machine learning. The image material generated from the in-situ tests is analysed in a digital volume correlation program (DVC) to display the material behaviour in terms of load-deformation curves and to record local deformation states due to mechanical loads, thermal effects or chemical reactions. The corresponding 3D analysis software is also part of this application. Finally, the in-situ tests require filigree specimens with precise dimensions and geometries. An automatic precision saw that guarantees reproducible specimen dimensions with an accuracy of < 5 µm is requested for the preparation of specimens made of concrete, mineral-bonded composite materials or metals.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Hochauflösendes µCT-System mit in-situ-Materialprüfung und struktur-mechanischen 3D-Analysen
• Instrumentation Group: 4070 Spezielle Röntgengeräte für Materialanalyse, Strukturforschung und Werkstoff-Bestrahlung
• Applicant Institution: Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Iurie Curosu