The Use of Computed Tomography to Explore the Microstructure of Materials in Civil Engineering: From Rocks to Concrete

Computed tomography (CT) is a nondestructive technique, based on absorbing X-rays, that permits the visualisation of the internal microstructure of material. The field of application is very wide. This is a well-known technology in medicine, because of its enormous advantages, but it is also very useful in other fields. Computed tomography is used in palaeontology to study the internal structure of the bones from ancient hominids. In addition, this technology is being used by engineers to analyse the microstructure of materials. Materials engineers use this technology to analyse or develop new materials. Mechanical engineers use CT scans to study the internal defects of materials. Geotechnical engineers use CT scans to study several aspects of the rocks and minerals (cracks, voids, etc). This technology is also very useful to study de microstructure of concrete, especially in case of the new concretes (ultra-high performance concrete, fiber reinforced concrete, etc). In this chapter, an extended state-of-the-art of the most relevant research, related to the use of computed tomography to explore the microstructure of materials in civil and mechanical engineering, is exposed. The main objective of this chapter is that the reader can discover new applications of the computed tomography, different from conventional ones.

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