The micro CT scanner can take pictures at the micron level, or one-millionth of a meter. (Photo/Courtesy of Botong Zheng)
Bora Gencturk knew exactly what he wanted.
The USC Viterbi associate professor of civil engineering in the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering does cutting-edge research on “self-healing concrete,” which is made from materials that can automatically repair any internal or external cracks.
However, to truly ascertain whether his concrete heals itself, Gencturk and his research team needed access to a CT scanner with enough power and resolution to peer into a block of concrete and identify even the smallest cracks.
In response to Gencturk and other researchers’ needs, USC Viterbi and the Office of the Vice President for Research recently acquired a state-of-the-art micro CT scanner – a Nikon XT H 225 ST X-ray system.
Unveiled in early October, the micro CT scanner resides in the Structures and Materials Research Laboratory in the basement of Kaprielian Hall. The machine’s capabilities will allow researchers in myriad disciplines, ranging from engineering to geology to biology and medicine, to do better work, Gencturk said.
“With some machines you can only scan soft tissues. With others maybe you can only maybe scan very dense samples like metals or rock,” he said. “But our machine allows us to scan a spectrum all the way from very soft tissue to very hard, dense metals.”
“You can use this machine to look at sensors, to look at circuit boards, robotic equipment, and composite materials to detect defects,” Gencturk added. “You could even put a mummy in the CT scanner to see what’s inside without having to open it.”
One of only two such machines on the West Coast, the micro CT scanner can take pictures at the micron level, or one-millionth of a meter, said Botong Zheng, a research assistant professor of structural engineering in the Sonny Astani Department.
That makes a difference, he said.
A CT image of concrete (Photo/Courtesy of Botong Zheng)
“The resolution is very high,” Zheng said. “That means you can find much richer details that could be very important, like an air bubble in metal, that cannot be examined by lower resolution machines.”
The new machine is open to USC and outside researchers, Gencturk said, adding that its versatility should make it quite popular.
He also expects the new micro CT scanner to promote interdisciplinary work.
“When you start doing research in shared facilities, you get exposed to each other’s research. And that leads to collaborations,” Gencturk said. “We could see what they’re doing and maybe implement their research in our work and vice versa.”
Published on October 31st, 2022
Last updated on October 31st, 2022
