Facility Support: Refurbishing the High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Laboratory Principal Instrument

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This grant provides for the first of two stages that will refurbish the principal instrument at the University of Texas High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility (UTCT). It will replace the 9-inch image intensifier area detector and 1024x1024 CCD camera currently used for up to 225 keV microfocal scanning with a 16-inch 2048x2048 pixel amorphous silica flat panel enabling distortion-free imagery over the full range of X-ray energies available from our sources (~50-450 keV). It will also include a new high-speed, high-capacity turntable gantry and computer system, which together will allow rapid data acquisition and cone-beam reconstruction, in addition to superior data resolution. These enhancements will lead to lower scanning costs and expanded research possibilities, including ?4D? imaging in which volumes are imaged in time series. The grant will also help fund the engineering design work required to complete the transformation of our instrument into a cutting-edge CT scanner matching or exceeding the capabilities of other mass-produced scanners sold today.X-ray computed tomography is a completely nondestructive means of examining the interiors of opaque solid objects. X-ray CT produces sets of two-dimensional images ('slices') that reveal features in the interior of a specimen as if it had been sliced open along the image plane for viewing. CT technology was originally developed for medical diagnosis, and subsequently adapted to industrial and scientific applications by employing X-ray sources of greater energy and/or superior focus, and by increasing the spatial resolution of the X-ray detectors. Since 1999, UTCT has operated as an NSF multi-user facility, making this technology, and the expertise necessary to exploit it, easily accessible to the national geoscientific community. UTCT has also been utilized by a wide range of other disciplines, including biology, anthropology, and civil, mechanical, and chemical engineering, in both academia and industry. The improvements begun in this project will fully modernize our principal scanner, while also placing UTCT on much firmer ground in terms of serviceability and future upgrades, enabling it to continue in its national mission.