INVESTIGATING POROSITY OF SINTERING POROUS COPPER STRUCTURE WITH 3D MICRO-FOCUS X-RAY COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (MCT)

摘要

The paper presents studies on the structure intended to form a heat exchange element made of sintered porous Cu. Analyses of Cu foam exhibiting a cellular structure have been carried out using X-ray tomography. This new technique allows the three dimensional and non-destructive visualization of the studied materials at the scale of their cellular microstructure. Qualitative examples are given for sintered Cu foams. It has been measured by quantitative 3D image processing. Samples of copper foam have been imaged at high resolution using a large-field, 3D micro-focus X-ray computed tomography (μCT) system, three-dimensional image blocks derived from the scans were examined as cross-sections along orthogonal planes and as perspective images, maneuvered to be viewed from any angle. X-ray micro-computed tomography (mCT) has become a popular tool for obtaining 3D images of composite materials skeleton and pores, however images are only qualitative. This work presents methods for obtaining pore size distributions for both the micro-pores and their interconnects. It's a matter of great significance for recognition of real structure of sintered porous elements and it's utility mainly as heat transfer. The proposed X-ray method appears to be an excellent tool for determining the 3D structure of the sintered Cu foam. It should be used to improve changes detection in the structure of the foam itself, incurred to the effect of changes process appeared during heat transfer operation.