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

获得高分辨率X射线显微断层成像(XRM)成像系统的这一重大研究仪器奖将推动广泛的基础研究，可能导致新材料的出现，增强基础设施的弹性、下一代医学和能源生产。落基山地区的研究人员目前还无法使用这种仪器，它独特地将X射线源与物镜炮塔结合在一起，获得了非凡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、生物组织和组织修复和再生材料、自然和档案材料、智能聚合物以及能量收集和储存。作为一种公开可用的资源，XRM将被用来推动整个落基山脉地区工业、个人研究人员和研究机构的科学使命。工作组年度会议和一年两次的材料成像专题讨论会将促进传播最先进的成像科学，不断招募新的用户，并促进新的地方和区域合作。该项目还将支持新一代高级仪器技术人员的教育、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。作为材料成像的黄金标准，具有原位机械测试、温度控制能力和动态时间分辨成像功能的高分辨率XRM提供了一种非破坏性手段来成像和区分材料内部的微和纳米结构，在长工作距离下具有700 nm的空间分辨率，70 nm的体素分辨率，以及小样本和大样本(高达300 mm)的特殊相位对比度。先进的功能允许现场增强标准测试，以在受控的温度、压缩、拉伸和弯曲下对3D/4D中的材料行为进行成像，从而实现亚微米级以前看不到的损伤和破坏机制。除了量化微观结构特征和现场对物理和机械性能进行经验分析外，还可以将图像数据直接导入数值模拟，并利用应力、应变、温度、压力和流体流动进行操作，以计算模型、预测和观察微尺度材料的行为，最终实现高度复杂的合成和仿生材料的更复杂设计。

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.