[Webinar/Hybrid] Neutron (and x-ray) imaging for the mechanics and physics of porous media

by Dr Alessandro Tengattini (Institut Laue-Langevin)

Monday 13 Jun 2022, 14:30 → 15:30 Europe/Berlin

PH HS 3 (Physics Department)

Porous media such as rocks and concrete are ubiquitous in engineering applications and in everyday life. The macroscopic behaviour of this broad class of materials depends on processes occurring at the micro-scale and their interactions. Full-field methods lend themselves as ideal probing tools to explore their evolution across time.

Historically X-ray imaging has been the main approach to study their full-field response, but in numerous cases neutron imaging has proven essential to study processes, and notably the role played by hydrogen-rich substances, such as water, within them. Recent developments have pushed the spatio-temporal resolution of neutron imaging as well as allowed for the acquisition of truly simultaneous x-ray tomographies. This combined use is uniquely powerful, thanks to the high complementarity of their contrast. It allows not only to study different aspects of processes (e.g., the interdependence between the opening of cracks and water penetration) but even aids in the identification of the different phases comprising a sample.

This contribution will propose an overview of recent developments in neutron imaging including the combined use of x-ray imaging, focusing on recent discoveries allowed by- and new venues opened in- the study of concrete and geological systems.