MRI: Acquisition of a High Resolution X-Ray Micro-Computed Tomography System for Multidisciplinary and Integrated Research and Education

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This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Award supports acquisition of a high-resolution x-ray micro-computed tomography system (micro-CT) that enables nondestructive 3D imaging of materials and their internal structure for a wide range of applications in engineering, natural, marine, and geological sciences, and medicine. The proposed instrument will provide critical capabilities to eight departments across the University of Miami (UM) and at Florida International University (FIU) and Florida Atlantic University (FAU), to perform high impact research and foster multidisciplinary research collaborations. The instrument will be used in a wide range of teaching and outreach activities and will enhance efforts to attract underrepresented minorities to science and engineering. The research team will leverage outreach efforts-- such as UM's National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) program-- to introduce imaging tools to high school students from Miami-Dade County, which has a large population of Hispanic students.This instrument will permit in-situ studies of the effect of mechanical tension-compression and temperature on microstructure and material behavior. Understanding the evolution of material microstructure under varied environmental and mechanical conditions and its relationships with mechanical, physical, and functional properties is crucial in the design and durability assessment of materials in civil, aerospace, mechanical, and biomedical engineering. Micro-CT will enable investigations into bio-inspired approaches to impart self-healing in cementitious materials, which will result in sustainable infrastructure and improved public safety. Micro-CT will aid in gaining a fundamental understanding of failure initiation and progression in structural alloys, which will lead to the development of predictive models needed for the safe design of structural alloys.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.