Capital Equipment in Support of the National Research Facility for Lab X-ray CT

国家实验室X射线计算机层析成像(CT)研究设施(NRF)旨在为英国学术界和工业界提供访问世界级X射线成像设备和相关专业知识的途径，从而使：(1)用户无需自己的扫描仪即可获得3D/4D无损X射线成像，(2)用户可以超越具有相衬衍射和彩色CT的传统吸收CT，(3)用户能够探索材料在负载或极端环境下的行为，(4)用户能够通过增强的计算硬件、软件、支持和培训，(5)工业用户通过零部件、设备及其制造过程的内幕信息获得竞争优势。为实现这一目标，NRF汇集了4个卓越中心(位于曼彻斯特、南安普顿、伦敦大学学院和华威的分支机构)。NRF将于2020年11月1日正式启动，并将带来新设备，以补充合作伙伴设施中现有的设备。这里要求的物品将进一步支持我们帮助用户和最大限度地利用工作人员时间的使命，并将侧重于扩展现有设施的能力，以更好地补充即将到来的新设备。他们还将确保我们的设备能够提供最高质量的结果，并支持大量用户。4个Spoke中的每一个都有助于NRF的多尺度和现场主题，提供互补的设施和专业知识，并领导一个技术主题：曼彻斯特将领导利用高光谱和基于衍射的断层扫描以及多尺度/多模式成像的“丰富断层扫描”主题。南安普敦将在大样本扫描和生命科学方面处于领先地位。UCL将在相衬成像和电化学设备方面处于领先地位。沃里克将引领快速成像和X射线CT计量。总而言之：曼彻斯特的探测器将使我们现有的高通量舱(HFB)可供用户进行现场实验。南安普顿的可定制机械加载阶段将扩大现场启动/测试部署的范围和速度，支持通常定制的较大工程样本/系统测试的性质。伦敦大学学院的辐射外壳将使运行两条光束线成为可能，而不是来自相位对比系统的一条，最大限度地发挥NRF设备的效用。这将带来新的额外功能，并增加我们可以针对相衬成像的用例范围，帮助更多用户。Warwick的先进重建工作站将使重建吞吐量增加4倍，并能够处理稀疏/有限角度投影。这将大大有助于数据吞吐量和从高速/噪声数据中提供高质量的重建。所有这些成本效益增强将建立在我们现有的互补优势的基础上，并将为我们现在和未来的用户带来重大好处。NRF的独立X射线成像指导委员会(XISC)的代表包括：(A)物理科学用户，(B)生物医学，(C)环境和地球科学，以及(D)工程将监测对用户的交付，并建立在公平、透明和快速访问模式的基础上，该模式将由由设施董事组成的设施委员会(FB)实施和评判，首席仪器科学家和来自Spokes的联席主任，一个具有代表性的钻石光源(从而确保这些设施为联合王国的利益而共同工作)、NPL和EPSRC以及3个用户。将持续监测用户反馈和关键绩效指标，以保持用户体验和开展的研究的质量，并在必要时作出改进。

The National Research Facility (NRF) for Lab X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) aims to provide the UK academic and industrial community with access to world class X-ray imaging facilities and the associated expertise enabling:(1) Access to 3D/4D non-destructive X-ray imaging for users without a scanner of their own,(2) Users to go beyond conventional absorption CT with phase contrast diffraction and colour CT,(3) Users to explore the behaviour of materials under loading or extreme environments,(4) Users to be able to get more information for the very large datasets that the NRF will provide through, enhanced computational hardware, software, support and training,(5) Industrial users to gain a competitive advantage through inside information about components, devices and their manufacturing processes.To achieve this the NRF brings together 4 centres of excellence (Spoke facilities at Manchester, Southampton, UCL and Warwick). The NRF officially starts on 1st November 2020 and will bring new equipment to complement the existing equipment available across the partner facilities. The items requested here will further support our mission of helping users and making the best use of staff time, and will be focused on extending the capabilities of the current facilities to better complement the incoming new equipment. They will also ensure our equipment is able to deliver the highest quality results and support the large number of users. Each of the 4 Spokes contributes to the multiscale and in situ themes of the NRF providing complementary facilities and expertise as well as leading a technical theme: Manchester will lead the theme of 'rich tomography' exploiting hyperspectral and diffraction based tomography as well as multiscale/multimodal imaging. Southampton will lead on large sample scanning and life sciences. UCL will lead on phase contrast imaging and electrochemical devices. Warwick will lead on fast imaging and X-ray CT metrology.In summary:The detector at Manchester will make our existing high-flux bay (HFB) available to users for in situ experiments.The customisable mechanical loading stage at Southampton will extend the range and rapidity of deploying in situ actuation/testing, supporting the often bespoke nature of testing larger engineering samples/systems.The radiation enclosure at UCL will make it possible to run two beam lines instead of one from the phase contrast system, maximising the utility of the NRF equipment. This will bring new additional capability and enhance the range of use cases we can target for phase contrast imaging helping more users.The advanced reconstruction workstation at Warwick will increase reconstruction throughput by 4x and will enable handling of sparse/limited angle projections. This will significantly help with data throughput and the delivery of good quality reconstructions from high speed/noisy data.Altogether we believe these cost-effective enhancements will build upon our existing complementary strengths and will bring significant benefit to our users now and into the future.The independent X-ray Imaging Steering Committee (XISC) of the NRF with representation from (a) physical science users, (b) biomedical, (c) environmental & earth sciences, and (d) engineering will monitor delivery to users and be built upon a fair, transparent and rapid access model, which will be implemented and judged by the Facilities Board (FB) comprising the Directors of the Facility, the Principal Instrument Scientist and the Co-Directors from the Spokes, a representative Diamond Light Source (thereby ensuring that the Facilities work together for the benefit of the UK), NPL and EPSRC as well as 3 users. User feedback and key performance indicators (KPIs) will be continuously monitored to maintain the quality of the user experience and the research that is undertaken and make improvements where necessary.