In-situ synchrotron X-ray microtomography studies of microstructure and damage evolution in engineering materials

In materials science X-ray microtomography has evolved as an increasingly utilized technique for characterizing the 3D microstructure Of materials. The fundamentals of X-ray microtomography experimental methods and the reconstruction and data evaluation processes are briefly described. A review of in-situ synchrotron X-ray microtomography studies in literature is given. Examples of recent work include in-situ microtomography investiagtions of metallic foams, in-situ studies of the sintering of copper particles, and in-situ investigations of creep damage evolution in composites. Future perspectives of in-situ X-ray microtomography studies in materials science are outlined.