F. Michel

Bio: F. Michel is an academic researcher from ETH Zurich. The author has contributed to research in topics: Moisture. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 8 citations.

Adaptive Neutron Radiography Correlation for Simultaneous Imaging of Moisture Transport and Deformation in Hygroscopic Materials

Abstract: Neutron radiography is a key non-destructive testing technology for the investigation of moisture transport in materials. However, quantitative moisture measurements in swelling materials are currently challenging due to the lack of referencing between moist and dry state radiographs. A novel adaptive texture correlation algorithm is presented to simultaneously image inhomogeneous moisture distributions and moisture-induced strain fields. The proposed method provides a valuable tool for the study of time- and position-dependent hygromechanical interactions. Moreover, it requires no modification of existing neutron installations. The method was validated against gravimetric moisture content and optic surface deformation measurements. Its applicability was demonstrated for two actual topics in wood science, the investigation of moisture gradients within the growth ring microstructure and the study of moisture transport processes in wood-fiber composites. The algorithm can be widely used to characterize hygroscopic materials with heterogeneous texture, as frequently found in wood constructions, food industry, engineering and soil science.

In-situ quantification of microscopic contributions of individual cells to macroscopic wood deformation with synchrotron computed tomography.

Abstract: Wood-based composites hold the promise of sustainable construction. Understanding the influence on wood cellular microstructure in the macroscopic mechanical behavior is key for engineering high-performance composites. In this work, we report a novel Individual Cell Tracking (ICT) approach for in-situ quantification of nanometer-scale deformations of individual wood cells during mechanical loading of macroscopic millimeter-scale wood samples. Softwood samples containing > 104 cells were subjected to controlled radial tensile and longitudinal compressive load in a synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography (SRµCT) setup. Tracheid and wood ray cells were automatically segmented, and their geometric variations were tracked during load. Finally, interactions between microstructure deformations (lumen geometry, cell wall thickness), cellular arrangement (annual growth rings, anisotropy, wood ray presence) with the macroscopic deformation response were investigated. The results provide cellular insight into macroscopic relations, such as anisotropic Poisson effects, and allow direct observation of previously suspected wood ray reinforcing effects. The method is also appropriate for investigation of non-linear deformation effects, such as buckling and deformation recovery after failure, and gives insight into less studied aspects, such as changes in lumen diameter and cell wall thickness during uniaxial load. ICT provides an experimental tool for direct validation of hierarchical mechanical models on real biological composites.

Inverse identification of early- and latewood hydric properties using full-field measurements

Abstract: The study and identification of the water diffusion properties of Abies alba Mill at the growth ring scale are investigated in this paper. A full-field measurement technique, the grid method, is used in the experimental tests in order to observe heterogeneities and to measure strain fields in the annual growth rings. In this case, the mechanical behaviour of latewood (LW) and earlywood (EW) is studied under the effect of water stress. This technique is coupled to an inverse method for parameter identification. It enables us to assess the diffusivity of EW and LW in the tangential diffusion direction (T) and their expansion coefficients in the radial direction (R) from strain maps obtained using the grid method. Thus the water diffusion phenomenon and its effect on the deformation of wood specimens are studied. A suitable experimental device is designed to provide direct contact with water on one side of the specimen, and strain maps are obtained over time on the other side. During the experiments,...

Neutron radiography for the study of water uptake in painting canvases and preparation layers

Abstract: Easel paintings on canvas are subjected to alteration mechanisms triggered or accelerated by moisture. For the study of the spatial distribution and kinetics of such interactions, a moisture exposure chamber was designed and built to perform neutron radiography experiments. Multilayered sized and primed canvas samples were prepared for time-resolved experiments in the ICON cold neutron beamline. The first results show that the set-up gives a good contrast and sufficient resolution to visualise the water uptake in the layers of canvas, size and priming. The results allow, for the first time, real-time visualisation of the interaction of water vapour with such layered systems. This offers important new opportunities for relevant, spatially and time-resolved material behaviour studies and opens the way towards numerical modelling of the process. These first results show that cellulose fibres and glue sizing have a much stronger water uptake than the chalk–glue ground. Additionally, it shows that the uptake rate is not uniform throughout the thickness of the sized canvas. With prolonged moisture exposure, a higher amount of water is accumulating at the lower edge of the canvas weave suggesting a decrease in permeability in the sized canvas with increased water content.