Hydrogen in metals can cause a degradation of the mechanical properties with possible subsequent hydrogen assisted cracking (HAC). Though, the mechanism of HAC is not completely understood yet and thus suitable methods for in situ investigations to characterise the crack formation are needed. X-ray computed tomography (CT) is a well-known tool for analysing these properties. However, the effective resolution of the detector system limits the detection of small defects by CT. Analyser based imaging (ABI) takes advantage of x-ray refraction at interfaces between volumes of different density, i.e. of cracks, pores, inclusions, etc., within the sample to detect defects smaller than the resolution of the detector system. In this study, measurements on an aluminium alloy weld showed that ABI allows us to resolve the 3D structure of cracks undetected by absorption based CT. Prospective investigations will analyse HAC in steels.
Microstructural aspects of composites such as reinforcement particle size, shape, and distribution play important roles in deformation behavior. In addition, Fe-rich inclusions and porosity also influence the behavior of these composites, particularly under fatigue loading. Three-dimensional (3-D) visualization of porosity and Fe-rich inclusions in three dimensions is critical to a thorough understanding of fatigue resistance of metal matrix composites (MMCs), because cracks often initiate at these defects. In this article, we have used X-ray synchrotron tomography to visualize and quantify the morphology and size distribution of pores and Fe-rich inclusions in a SiC particle-reinforced 2080 Al alloy composite. The 3-D data sets were also used to predict and understand the influence of defects on the deformation behavior by 3-D finite element modeling.