Integration of X-ray micro tomography and fluorescence for applications on natural building stones

Abstract

X-ray computed tomography (CT) is an excellent, non-destructive analysis tool for characterising many different materials. In geosciences, 3D visualisation is becoming of prime importance in characterising internal structures of various rock types. It enables new approaches in petrophysical research of rock components, including pore and mineral distribution. Although CT provides a lot of information, this technique is limited concerning information on chemical element distribution. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) on the other hand is an excellent technique to obtain the missing information on chemical properties. At the recently established "Centre for X-ray Tomography" of Ghent University (UGCT) a micro- and nanoCT scanner has been constructed. It is expected that by combination of high-resolution CT and XRF it will be possible to characterise the spatial mineral and element distribution. The combination of both techniques has been applied on natural building stones, in order to get a better insight into some geological parameters (porosity, pore structure, mineral distribution, colour, grain orientation, etc.). Afterwards, the integration of the Morpho+ software tool provides us a 3D quantification of the resulting data. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.