X-ray micro-tomography an attractive characterisation technique in materials science

X-ray tomography is a non-destructive technique which provides 3D information of materials. It is consequently very attractive in Materials Science since the relation between macroscopic properties and the micro-structure of a material is very frequently required. The aim of this paper is to present selected results obtained in various investigations of metallic materials such as superplastic deformation, materials in the semi-solid state and metallic foams. Depending on the studied features, several tomography analysis modes were used: conventional absorption mode, phase contrast and holotomography, a new technique, which provides the 3D distribution of the electron density in the bulk of the material. Furthermore micro-tomography enables one to perform in situ experiments either by using a mechanical test machine or a furnace. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.