MRI: Acquisition of a 4D High-Resolution X-Ray Micro-Computed Tomography System for the Rocky Mountain Region

该主要研究仪器奖将获得高分辨率x射线微断层扫描（XRM）成像系统，该系统将推进广泛的基础研究，可能导致增强基础设施弹性、下一代医学和能源生产的新材料。该仪器目前还没有提供给落基山脉地区的研究人员，它独特地将x射线源与物镜炮塔相结合，以获得卓越的空间分辨率和前所未有的图像质量。该仪器将推进关键研究领域，包括下一代民用基础设施材料、用于组织修复和再生的生物组织和材料、天然和档案材料、智能聚合物以及能量收集和存储。作为一种公共资源，XRM将被用来推动落基山脉地区的工业、个人研究人员和研究机构的科学任务。年度工作组会议和两年一次的材料成像专题讨论会将促进最先进成像科学的传播，使不断招募新用户成为可能，并促进新的地方和区域合作。该项目还将支持新一代先进仪器学家的教育、培训和指导，他们将在硬材料和软材料的高分辨率成像方面建立区域专业知识。作为材料成像的金标准，高分辨率XRM具有原位机械测试、温度控制能力和动态、时间分辨率成像，提供了一种非破坏性的方法来成像和区分材料的内部微观和纳米结构，在大工作距离下具有700纳米的空间分辨率，70纳米的体素分辨率，以及适用于大小样品尺寸（高达300毫米）的出色相对比。先进的功能允许在控制温度、压缩、拉伸和弯曲下进行标准测试，在3D/4D中对材料行为进行成像，从而在亚微米尺度上实现以前无法观察到的损伤和破坏机制。除了量化微观结构特征和经验分析原位物理力学性能外，图像数据还可以直接导入数值模拟，并通过应力、应变、温度、压力和流体流动进行操作，以计算模型、预测和观察微观尺度的材料行为，最终实现更复杂的合成和仿生材料设计。

This Major Research Instrumentation award to acquire a high-resolution X-ray microtomography (XRM) imaging system will advance a broad spectrum of fundamental research, potentially leading to novel materials that enhance infrastructure resilience, next-generation medicine, and energy production. The instrumentation, which is not currently available to researchers in the Rocky Mountain region, uniquely combines an X-ray source with an objective turret to attain exceptional spatial resolution and unprecedented image quality. The instrumentation will advance critical research areas, including next-generation civil infrastructure materials, biological tissues and materials for tissue repair and regeneration, natural and archival materials, smart polymers, and energy collection and storage. As a publicly available resource, the XRM will be leveraged to advance the scientific missions of industry, individual researchers, and research institutions throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Annual working group meetings and a biannual materials imaging symposium will facilitate dissemination of state-of-the-art imaging science, enable continuous recruitment of new users, and catalyze new local and regional collaborations. The project will also support the education, training, and mentorship of a new generation of advanced instrumentalists, who will establish a regional expertise in high-resolution imaging of both hard and soft materials.As the gold standard in materials imaging, high-resolution XRM with in situ mechanical testing, temperature-controlled capabilities, and dynamic, time-resolved imaging provides a non-destructive means to image and differentiate internal micro- and nanostructures of materials with 700 nm spatial resolution at large working distances, 70 nm voxel resolution, and exceptional phase contrast for both small and large sample sizes (up to 300 mm). Advanced capabilities permit in situ augmentation of standard tests to image material behavior in 3D/4D under controlled temperature, compression, tension, and flexure, enabling previously unobservable damage and failure mechanisms at the sub-micron scale. Beyond quantifying microstructural features and empirically analyzing physical and mechanical properties in situ, image data can be directly imported into numerical simulations and manipulated with stress, strain, temperature, pressure, and fluid flow to computationally model, predict, and observe microscale material behaviors, ultimately enabling more sophisticated design of highly complex synthetic and biomimetic materials.