ZEISS Microscopy Solutions

Understanding the fundamentals of cracking in cement-based building materials continues to be a strong area of research and funding in both academia and industry. Early-stage cracking in concrete materials has been estimated to cost the building industry near US$500M annually, with around half of the problem occurring at field construction sites. Additionally, improved understanding of the mechanisms involved in concrete cracking and subsequent failure could conceivably save thousands of lives lost during natural disasters. To address the limitations of existing imaging methods in determining crack mechanisms and crack geometry, ZEISS Xradia Versa 3D X-ray microscopes (XRM) provide non-destructive submicron true spatial resolution for 3D crack morphology imaging. It also enables high resolution in situ imaging to quantify fracture evolution during stress and environmental conditions.

Since the nineteenth century, concrete has become the ZEISS Microscopy Solutions for Steel and Other Metalsmost widely used material in human history. Almost all civil engineering infrastructures are completely or partly built with concrete. This increasing use of concrete is due to the invention of modern cements. Although there have been many improvements in the materials used in cement, cracks in concrete due to loading and environmental conditions are a major source of reduced durability and increased financial losses. To mitigate this problem, a research project has started at the University of Cambridge to improve the self-healing capacity of cementitious materials in order to create self-healing concrete.

ZEISS Xradia CrystalCT is the first commercially available crystallographic imaging microCT system that uniquely augments the powerful technique of computed tomography with the ability to reveal crystallographic grain microstructures, transforming the way polycrystalline materials (such as metals, additively manufactured parts, ceramics, etc.) can be studied, leading to newer and deeper insights into materials research. ZEISS Xradia CrystalCT with its large field of view flat panel detector and 3D grain mapping, developed in collaboration with Xnovo Technology ApS, addresses a wide spectrum of imaging needs in research and industrial applications. Non-destructive CT also enables in situ and 4D studies to understand practically the impact of varying conditions over time. The ZEISS Xradia imaging system combines its proven hardware architecture with state-of-the-art stability and drift compensation features. It is because of the superior stability of this renowned platform that ZEISS Xradia CrystalCT consistently surpasses one’s comprehension of what a microCT can achieve.