X-ray Micro-Tomography (micro-CT)

The technique is used at NASA Ames Research Center to investigate a variety of advanced materials, including lightweight composite heatshields for atmospheric entry, woven materials, parachute textiles and meteoroids. Data are collected using both synchrotron and laboratory-based X-ray sources.

Synchrotron micro-CT is performed in collaboration with the beamline 8.3.2 at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. High-fidelity digital representations of microstructures obtained from micro-CT are used as framework to perform predictive simulations of effective material properties and material response using high performance computing.