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μCT-Based Analysis of the Solid Phase in Foams: Cell Wall Corrugation and other Microscopic Features

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2015

Samuel Pardo-Alonso ,
Eusebio Solórzano Open the ORCID record for Eusebio Solórzano [Opens in a new window] ,
Jerome Vicente ,
Loes Brabant ,
Manuel L. Dierick ,
Ingo Manke ,
Andr Hilger ,
Ester Laguna  and
Miguel Angel Rodriguez-Perez
Samuel Pardo-Alonso*
Affiliation:
CellMat Laboratory, Condensed Matter Physics Department, University of Valladolid, Paseo de Belén 7, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
Eusebio Solórzano
Affiliation:
CellMat Laboratory, Condensed Matter Physics Department, University of Valladolid, Paseo de Belén 7, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
Jerome Vicente
Affiliation:
Laboratoire IUSTI, CNRS UMR 7343, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France
Loes Brabant
Affiliation:
UGCT-Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Sciences, Proeftuinstraat, 86 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Manuel L. Dierick
Affiliation:
UGCT-Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Sciences, Proeftuinstraat, 86 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Ingo Manke
Affiliation:
Institute of Applied Materials, Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB) Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany
Andr Hilger
Affiliation:
Institute of Applied Materials, Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB) Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany
Ester Laguna
Affiliation:
CellMat Laboratory, Condensed Matter Physics Department, University of Valladolid, Paseo de Belén 7, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
Miguel Angel Rodriguez-Perez
Affiliation:
CellMat Laboratory, Condensed Matter Physics Department, University of Valladolid, Paseo de Belén 7, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
*
*Corresponding author.esolo@fmc.uva.es
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Abstract

This work presents a series of three-dimensional computational methods with the objective of analyzing and quantifying some important structural characteristics in a collection of low-density polyolefin-based foams. First, the solid phase tortuosity, local thickness, and surface curvature, have been determined over the solid phase of the foam. These parameters were used to quantify the presence of wrinkles located at the cell walls of the foams under study. In addition, a novel segmentation technique has been applied to the continuous solid phase. This novel method allows performing a separate analysis of the constituting elements of this phase, that is, cell struts and cell walls. The methodology is based on a solid classification algorithm and evaluates the local topological dissimilarities existing between these elements. Thanks to this method it was possible to perform a separate analysis of curvature, local thickness, and corrugation ratio in the solid constituents that reveals additional differences that were not detected in the first analysis of the continuous structure. The methods developed in this work are applicable to other types of porous materials in fields such as geoscience or biomedicine.

Keywords

tomography3D analysiscorrugationtortuositycellular structure
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 21 , Issue 5 , October 2015 , pp. 1361 - 1371
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2015 

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