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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 163 records · Page 9

Rapid mapping of polarization switching through complete information acquisition

Polarization switching in ferroelectric and multiferroic materials underpins a broad range of current and emergent applications, ranging from random access memories to field-effect transistors, and tunnelling devices. Switching in these materials is exquisitely sensitive to local defects and microstructure on the nanometre scale, necessitating spatially resolved high-resolution studies of these phenomena. Classical piezoresponse force microscopy and spectroscopy, although providing necessary spatial resolution, are fundamentally limited in data acquisition rates and energy resolution. This limitation stems from their two-tiered measurement protocol that combines slow (~1 s) switching and fast (~10 kHz–1 MHz) detection waveforms. Here we develop an approach for rapid probing of ferroelectric switching using direct strain detection of material response to probe bias. This approach, facilitated by high-sensitivity electronics and adaptive filtering, enables spectroscopic imaging at a rate 3,504 times faster the current state of the art, achieving high-veracity imaging of polarization dynamics in complex microstructures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A detailed study of the microstructure and thermal stability of typical SiC fibers

Highlights: • The cross-sectional microstructure and thermal stability of typical SiC fibers were characterized via SEM and TEM. • The SiC fiber with gradient microstructure has better properties than that with uniform microstructure. • The graphite exhibits straight planes on the fiber surface while they're turbostratic inside the fiber. Continuous SiC fibers have attracted increasing research interest for their significant application in aerospace and nuclear energy. Control of inhomogeneity and decrement of defects are crucial for improving the mechanical and high-temperature performance of SiC fibers. Thus an understanding of fine and detailed microstructural and microchemical distribution of SiC fibers is urgently needed. In the present work, the cross-sectional phase distributions, morphologies and defects of amorphous, non-stoichiometric and near-stoichiometric SiC fibers were well characterized. From surface to core, the amorphous and non-stoichiometric fibers exhibited uniform microstructures, but a gradient change along the radial direction was observed in the near-stoichiometric fiber. Nanosized SiC and turbostratic carbon (2–4 nm) were randomly distributed inside the amorphous fiber. A large amount of graphite surrounding SiC grains appears in the non-stoichiometric fiber which possess low strength and weak thermal stability. The near-stoichiometric fiber has transgranular fracturing, high strength and favorable thermal stability, and the graphite planes are turbostratic inside the fiber but straight on the surface. The results of both energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry measurements and first-principles calculations demonstrate that Al atoms can occupy Si sites in the SiC grains. Our findings offer fine understanding for fabricating SiC fibers with superior properties.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

X-ray microtomography shows pore structure and tortuosity in alkali-activated binders

Durability of alkali-activated binders is of vital importance in their commercial application, and depends strongly on microstructure and pore network characteristics. X-ray microtomography ({mu}CT) offers, for the first time, direct insight into microstructural and pore structure characteristics in three dimensions. Here, {mu}CT is performed on a set of sodium metasilicate-activated fly ash/slag blends, using a synchrotron beamline instrument. Segmentation of the samples into pore and solid regions is then conducted, and pore tortuosity is calculated by a random walker method. Segmented porosity and diffusion tortuosity are correlated, and vary as a function of slag content (slag addition reduces porosity and increases tortuosity), and sample age (extended curing gives lower porosity and higher tortuosity). This is particularly notable for samples with {>=} 50% slag content, where a space-filling calcium (alumino)silicate hydrate gel provides porosity reductions which are not observed for the sodium aluminosilicate ('geopolymer') gels which do not chemically bind water of hydration.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Simulation of dynamic crystal plasticity with a Lagrangian discontinuous Galerkin hydrodynamic method

Here we present a new Lagrangian modal discontinuous Galerkin (DG) hydrodynamic method that supports a dynamic dislocation based crystal plasticity model for simulating the mechanical behavior of crystallographic materials, both single crystal and polycrystalline, under dynamic conditions. A modal DG approach is used to evolve fields relevant to conservation laws. These fields are approximated by Taylor series polynomials of varying degree. These polynomials describe macro-scale hydrodynamic behavior while their evolution is determined by evaluating the dynamic crystal plasticity model at material points within the element. The dynamic crystal plasticity model is sensitive to the time increment size, with too large of time increments leading to instability in the model. To mitigate this, the temporal evolution of the dynamic crystal plasticity model is achieved with the combination of a sub-incrementing scheme with Heun’s third-order time integration scheme, which is also used to temporally evolve the governing equations. The implementation of the dynamic crystal plasticity model within the DG framework is tested using a 2D approximation of the Taylor impact test with a single crystal material, using quadratic elements that have faces that can bend. In addition to the standard continuous material modeling, we propose a new simulation method that would represent the heterogeneous behavior of polycrystalline microstructures within an element by varying the position and material properties of the material points within the element. This method is demonstrated using random orientation distributions on materials points that are arranged in both structured and random configurations.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Microscopic model for exchange bias from grain-boundary disorder in a ferromagnet/antiferromagnet thin film with a nanocrystalline microstructure

Monte Carlo spin simulations were coupled to a Voronoi microstructure-generator to predict the magnitude and behavior of exchange bias in a ferromagnet/antiferromagnet (AF) thin film bilayer with a nanocrystalline microstructure. Our model accounts for the effects of irregular grain-shapes, finite-sized particles, and the possible presence of local random-fields originating from the antiferromagnet's grain-boundary regions. As the grain-boundary represents a crystal-structure distortion, we model the local effect on the exchange constants in the Gaussian approximation which can cause regions resembling a spin glass confined to an unusual 2D topology. Although an ensemble of completely disconnected AF grains isolated by non-magnetic barriers provides a small exchange bias, the introduction of a spin-glass network at the boundaries causes a four-fold enhancement in the magnitude of the loop-shift. This implies the importance of local grain-boundary behavior in defect-engineered antiferromagnets.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Microstructure and stability of melt spun INCONEL 713 LC

The alloy IN-714LC was used in an investigation of the effect of process parameters on the microstructure of a rapidly solidified melt-spun material. The resultant ribbon microstructure consisted of several distinct regions, each of which corresponds to a different thermal history during processing. A chill zone of equiaxed randomly-oriented grains exists in a region of the foil which was in contact with the wheel during casting. This zone develops into a dendritic growth morphology with distance away from the lower ribbon surface. Dendrites inclined in the direction of wheel rotation result from growth into a flowing stream. TEM studies showed that a cell structure formed, the cell size decreasing with increasing wheel speed. Aging studies indicated that the cell structure plays an important role in gamma prime precipitation. Results relating to heat treatments (as would be encountered in compaction and use) and the stability of the melt-spun structure are considered.

Antolovich, S. D.↗

Development of Texture in Ultrafine-Grained Low-Carbon Steel Processed through Equal-Channel Angular Pressing

Developments of microstructures and texture are investigated for a low-carbon steel deformed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) at room temperature for equivalent strain (ε{sub vm}) of 16.8. ECAP at ε{sub vm} = 0.6 reduces grain size by two orders of magnitude. With increasing strain, grain size reduces further and high-angle grain boundary (HAGB) fraction improves by grain subdivision and its change in orientation. ECAP of low-carbon steel up to ε{sub vm} = 16.8 can produce ultrafine grains of 0.2 µm size with HAGB fraction of 82%. The as-received steel has low texture index. Microstructural changes strongly influence texture development. It increases with equivalent strain as grain subdivision continues. Texture index fluctuates at intermediate strain range due to randomization of initial texture. Texture index reaches saturation at the high equivalent strain. On ECAP at low to intermediate strain ε{sub vm} = 0.6-6, components of both α (F{sub θ}, J{sub θ}, and J-bar {sub θ}) and γ (D{sub 1θ}, D{sub 2θ}, and E{sub θ}) fibers are developed though all of them deviate from their ideal positions. At higher strain (ε{sub vm} = 9-16.8), the γ fiber components (D{sub 1θ}, D{sub 2θ}, E{sub θ}) are strengthened, and the E{sub θ} component reaches the highest intensity of ≈ 17 at ε{sub vm} = 12. There is no texture symmetry at low to high strain level. The presence of pearlite in low-carbon steel enhances strongly the deviation of texture components from their ideal positions in Euler’s space as well as it increases the intensities of the components more than that of IF steel for a similar equivalent strain.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Synergetic Strengthening of Grain Refinement and Texture in Gradient Zircaloy-4 by Surface Mechanical Rolling Treatment

A Zircaloy-4 rod was subjected to surface mechanical rolling treatment (SMRT) to form a gradient structure, and the evolution of the resulting sub-grain-boundary property and texture across the gradient structure was characterized using electron backscattered diffraction. Dual-gradient structures in grain size and orientation were formed; the grain size was refined from several microns at the center to approximately 400 nm at the topmost surface. Texture analysis revealed that the c-axis gradually tilted from a random orientation toward the parallel-to-radial direction on the radial–tangential plane. The SMRT-induced formation of the dual-gradient microstructure is attributed to the formation of gradient distributions of stress and strain, which resulted in various deformation mechanisms (twinning and dislocation) being active at different depths. During the SMRT process, twinning and dislocations were activated to refine the grains. When the dual-gradient microstructure formed, twinning was mainly activated at the subsurface near the matrix, whereas dislocations were activated across the entire gradient. The geometrically necessary dislocation density increased with decreasing depth and then slightly decreased near the surface. The synergetic strengthening of the dual-gradient microstructure resulted in a gradient distribution of the microhardness near the surface. Thus, the Zircaloy-4 rod exhibited a good combination of strength and ductility.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Robustness of magnetocrystalline anisotropy and coercivity in Fe–Co–B

As a potential candidate for critical chemical element free permanent magnet, (Fe 0.7 Co 0.3 ) 2 B, shows promising intrinsic magnetic properties, including large magnetization, high Curie temperature and moderate magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA). Still, the coercivity that has been achieved is relatively low. To understand and improve coercivity, here we study the robustness of MCA related to the fluctuation of chemical composition and the structural distortion and its effect on coercivity in (Fe 0.7 Co 0.3 ) 2 B from first principles DFT (density functional theory) calculation and micromagnetic simulation. A fluctuation of cobalt content of 10%, or 1% isotropic lattice strain, or 2% tetragonal distortion reduces MCA energy up to 30%. By considering randomly distributed local MCA energy reduction up to 30%, the calculated coercivity of anisotropic bulk magnets reduced from 3.6 kOe to 2.2 kOe. Rational microstructure design, such as grain size refinement and development of strong crystal texture of MCA easy-axis (i.e., degree of alignment for (Fe 0.7 Co 0.3 ) 2 B grains), can enhance coercivity and mitigate the effect of local MCA reduction. In addition to acceptable intrinsic magnetic properties, the promising hard magnetic phase needs good MCA robustness to facilitate the development of practical magnets.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Fundamentals of microcrack nucleation mechanics

A foundation for ultrasonic evaluation of microcrack nucleation mechanics is identified in order to establish a basis for correlations between plane strain fracture toughness and ultrasonic factors through the interaction of elastic waves with material microstructures. Since microcracking is the origin of (brittle) fracture, it is appropriate to consider the role of stress waves in the dynamics of microcracking. Therefore, the following topics are discussed: (1) microstress distributions with typical microstructural defects located in the stress field; (2) elastic wave scattering from various idealized defects; and (3) dynamic effective-properties of media with randomly distributed inhomogeneities.

Fu, L. S.↗

Effect of Nd:YAG laser welding on microstructure and hardness of an Al-Li based alloy

Butt joints of 3.0 mm thick sheets of an Al-Li based alloy have been produced using Nd:YAG laser welding without filler metals. The hardness distribution and microstructure of the alloy and welded joints were investigated. The changes in the grain shapes, grain orientations, microtexture, and precipitates of the fusion zone were analyzed using optical microscope, electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that Nd:YAG laser welding leads to a change of the microhardness, grain shape, grain orientations, and a disappearance of the microtexture and precipitates. A narrow band of EQZ along the fusion boundary and a predominantly equiaxed dendritic structure are developed in the fusion zone. The formation of the predominately equiaxed dendritic grains is due to a heterogeneous nucleation mechanism aided by equilibrium A1{sub 3}Zr phases as well as the growth of pre-existing nuclei created by dendrite fragmentation, or by grain detachment resulted from Nd:YAG laser welding processes. In addition, Nd:YAG laser welding produces lower Vickers hardness than that of the base metal due to the decrease in the in quantity of {delta} Prime precipitates in the fusion zone. - Graphical Abstract: The grain shapes, grain orientations, microtexture, and precipitates of the solidified fusion zone were investigated and compared with the base metal using optical microscope, electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). EBSD orientation map of laser welded joint in 5A90 alloys is presented in Fig. 3. It clearly shows that a narrow band EQZ along the fusion boundary and the predominantly equiaxed grains have been developed in the fusion zone of 5A90 alloys. Also, it is clear that the microstructure of the base metal is characterized by laminated grains with preferred orientations, whereas the fusion zone is predominately equiaxed grains in different colors having random orientations. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The predominantly equiaxed dendritic structure is developed in the fusion zone. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The fusion zone with equiaxed grains shows random orientations and microtexture. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The loss in hardness in the fusion zone is due to the decrease in {delta} Prime precipitates. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The non-epitaxial growth occurs at fusion boundary. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The equilibrium A1{sub 3}Zr phases maybe the nuclei of new grains in the fusion zone.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Morphologies of poly(cyclohexadiene) diblock copolymers: Effect of conformational asymmetry

Concerted experimental and theoretical investigations have been carried out to understand the microphase separation in diblock copolymer melts containing poly (1,3-cyclohexadiene), PCHD, as one of the constituents. In particular, we have studied diblock copolymer melts containing polystyrene (PS), polybutadiene (PB), and polyisoprene (PI) as the second block. We have systematically varied the ratio of 1,2-/1,4-microstructures of poly (1,3-cyclohexadiene) to tune the conformational asymmetry between the two blocks and characterized the effects of these changes on the morphologies using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Our experimental investigations reveal that the melts of PCHD-b-PB, PCHD-b-PS and PCHD-b-PI containing nearly equal fractions of each component and high percentage of 1,4-microstructures in the PCHD block form cylindrical rather than lamellar morphologies as expected in symmetric diblock copolymers. In contrast, the morphologies of PCHD-b-PB, PCHD-b-PS and PCHD-b-PI containing PCHD block with higher 1,2-microstructure are found to be disordered at 110 °C. The change in the morphological behavior is in good agreement with our numerical calculations using the random phase approximation and self-consistent field theory for conformationally asymmetric diblock copolymer melts. Also, the effects of composition fluctuations are studied by extending the Brazovskii–Leibler–Fredrickson–Helfand (J. Chem. Phys. 87, 697 (1987)) theory to conformationally asymmetric diblock copolymer melts. These results allow the understanding of the underlying self-assembly process that highlights the importance of the conformational asymmetry in tuning the morphologies in block copolymers.

Polymer Science↗

Morphologies of poly(cyclohexadiene) diblock copolymers

Concerted experimental and theoretical investigations have been carried out to understand the micro-phase separation in diblock copolymer melts containing poly (1,3-cyclohexadiene), PCHD, as one of the constituents. In particular, we have studied diblock copolymer melts containing polystyrene (PS), polybutadiene (PB), and polyisoprene (PI) as the second block. We have systematically varied the ratio of 1,2- /1,4-microstructures of poly (1,3-cyclohexadiene) to tune the conformational asymmetry between the two blocks and characterized the effects of these changes on the morphologies using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Our experimental investigations reveal that the melts of PCHD-b-PB, PCHD-b-PS and PCHD-b-PI containing nearly equal fractions of each component and high percentage of 1,4-microstructures in the PCHD block form cylindrical rather than lamellar morphologies as expected in symmetric diblock copolymers. In contrast, the morphologies of PCHD-b-PB, PCHD-b-PS and PCHD-b-PI containing PCHD block with higher 1,2-microstructure are found to be disordered at 110 C. The change in the morphological behavior is in good agreement with our numerical calculations using the random phase approximation and self-consistent field theory for conformationally asymmetric diblock copolymer melts. Also, the effects of composition fluctuations are studied by extending the Brazovskii-Leibler-Fredrickson-Helfand (J. Chem. Phys. 87, 697 (1987)) theory to conformationally asymmetric diblock copolymer melts. These results allow the understanding of the underlying self-assembly process that highlights the importance of the conformational asymmetry in tuning the morphologies in block copolymers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Crosslinked Matrimid®-like polyimide membranes with unimodal network structure for enhanced stability and gas separation performance

Gas separation membranes have attracted academic and industrial attention, and crosslinking has been identified to be one of the most effective ways to enhance membrane stability. In this paper, a series of crosslinked Matrimid®-like films with unimodal network structures are prepared via thermally end-linking phenylethnyl-terminated BTDA-DAPI oligomers with well-controlled molecular weight (i.e., 3000–15,000 g/mol), wherein the crosslink density (the inter-crosslink chain length) of resulting unimodal networks is systematically varied by using oligomers with various molecular weight. Comprehensive characterizations of chemical structure, thermal properties, microstructures are performed. Pure-gas permeation measurements are performed focusing on H 2 /CH 4 and CO 2 /CH 4 separations as a function of crosslink density. In sharp contrast to the commonly observed permeability reduction in randomly crosslinked networks, all the crosslinked unimodal films, even when densely crosslinked, present markedly enhanced permeability and well-maintained ideal selectivity relative to the uncrosslinked linear counterpart, leading to almost horizontal movements towards upper bounds along with expectedly enhanced membrane stability. In conclusion, it is concluded that introducing bulky groups at the crosslink sites provide a practical means to counteract the densification effect induced by crosslinking and the construction of unimodal networks exemplifies a fundamentally new strategy to regulate the microstructure and property of crosslinked membranes for gas separations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Effect of carbon content on solidification behaviors and morphological characteristics of the constituent phases in Cr-Fe-C alloys

A combination of transmission electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction and wavelength dispersive spectrum has been used to identify crystal structure, grain boundary characteristic and chemical composition of the constituent phases in Cr-Fe-C alloys with three different carbon concentrations. Depending on the three different carbon concentrations, the solidification structures are found to consist of primary {alpha}-phase and [{alpha} + (Cr,Fe){sub 23} C{sub 6}] eutectic in Cr-18.4Fe-2.3 C alloy; primary (Cr,Fe){sub 23} C{sub 6} and [{alpha} + (Cr,Fe){sub 23} C{sub 6}] eutectic in Cr-24.5Fe-3.8 C alloy and primary (Cr,Fe){sub 7} C{sub 3} and [{alpha} + (Cr,Fe){sub 7} C{sub 3}] eutectic in Cr-21.1Fe-5.9 C alloy, respectively. The grain boundary analysis is useful to understand growth mechanism of the primary phase. The morphologies of primary (Cr,Fe){sub 23} C{sub 6} and (Cr,Fe){sub 7} C{sub 3} carbides are faceted structures with polygonal shapes, different from primary {alpha}-phase with dendritic shape. The primary (Cr,Fe){sub 23} C{sub 6} and (Cr,Fe){sub 7} C{sub 3} carbides with strong texture exist a single crystal structure and contain a slight low angle boundary, resulting in the polygonal growth mechanism. Nevertheless, the primary {alpha}-phase with relative random orientation exhibits a polycrystalline structure and comprises a massive high-angle boundary, caused by the dendritic growth mechanism. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Microstructures of the as-clad Cr-based alloys are characterized by TEM. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer EBSD technique has been use to characterize the grain boundary of primary phases. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We examine transitions in morphology about the primary phases. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Morphologies of primary carbides are polygonal different from primary {alpha}-phase. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Solidification structures rely on C concentrations in Cr-Fe-C alloy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Quantitative examination of carbide and sulphide precipitates in chemically complex steels processed by direct strip casting

A high strength low alloy steel composition has been melted and processed by two different routes: simulated direct strip casting and slow cooled ingot casting. The microstructures were examined with scanning and transmission electron microscopy, atom probe tomography and small angle neutron scattering (SANS). The formation of cementite (Fe{sub 3}C), manganese sulphides (MnS) and niobium carbo-nitrides (Nb(C,N)) was investigated in both casting conditions. The sulphides were found to be significantly refined by the higher cooling rate, and developed an average diameter of only 100 nm for the fast cooled sample, and a diameter too large to be measured with SANS in the slow cooled condition (> 1.1 μm). Slow cooling resulted in the development of classical Nb(C,N) precipitation, with an average diameter of 7.2 nm. However, after rapid cooling both the SANS and atom probe tomography data indicated that the Nb was retained in the matrix as a random solid solution. There was also some evidence that O, N and S are also retained in solid solution in levels not found during conventional processing. - Highlights: • The influence of cooling rate on microstructure is investigated in a HSLA steel. • SANS, TEM and APT are used to characterise the sulphides and Nb(C,N) precipitates. • The slow cooling rate result in the formation of Nb(C,N) precipitates. • The fast cooling rate results in a microstructure supersaturated in Nb, C and N. • The sulphides are 100 nm in the fast cooled sample and > 1 μm in the slow cooled one.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Comparative study of microstructure and properties of low-alloy-steel/nickel-based-alloy interfaces in dissimilar metal weld joints prepared by different GTAW methods

Highlights: • Number of type I and type II boundaries: H-DMWJ > C-DMWJ > W-DMWJ. • Width carbon depleted zones and carbon enriched zones: H-DMWJ > C-DMWJ > W-DMWJ. • Type I and type II boundaries are susceptible to SCC and cracked during mechanical bending. • C-DMWJ has the best performance while H-DMWJ has the worst one. - Abstract: Low-alloy-steel/buttering (or welding) metal interfaces in safe-end dissimilar metal weld joints (DMWJs) at nuclear power plants are weak parts. To optimize the quality of the safe-end DMWJs used for the construction of domestic nuclear power plants and to improve the welding productivity, a series of DMWJs in full-size have been manufactured by using different gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) methods. The microstructure, chemical composition distribution and local properties across the SA508/52(M) interfaces in these DMWJs are studied. The high heat input and long high temperature duration during hot-wire GTAW process promote the carbon diffusion and grain boundary migration and hence the DMWJ by hot-wire GTAW has the largest amount of type I and type II boundaries and the widest carbon depleted zones and carbon enriched zones, which resulting in the worst performance among the DMWJs in simulated primary water. Type I and type II boundaries are high angle random grain boundaries (RGBs) and Cr-depleted zones are found along type II boundaries resulting in their high susceptibility to SCC. In addition, these boundaries are prone to be cracked during mechanical bending process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

ML-based Micro-CT SOFC Microstructure Models (from Kent 2026 Microstructural Augmentation paper)

Overview -------------------------- This repository contains datasets from the manuscript **"Enhanced Generalizability to Deep-Learning Quantification of 3D Microstructural Characteristics through Microstructurally Aware Augmentation of Scarce Data"** (*William F. Kent, Rochan Bajpai, Rachel C. Kurchin, William K. Epting, Harry W. Abernathy, Paul A. Salvador. Submitted 2026*). The methods are also described in the dissertation **Data Intensive Analysis of Solid Oxide Cell Microstructures** (*Doctoral dissertation, Carnegie Mellon University, 2025*). The datasets here are trained convolutional neural network (CNN) models for predicting key microstructural properties of solid oxide cell (SOC) electrodes from low-res, 2-channel 3D images, as well as some helpful code. The parameters for input images are provided in the paper. Sample data is provided in the file `Combined_anode_aug_dual_1k_examples` - that particular data was used to train `anode_all_aug.pth` and will work most accurately with that model. Please familiarize yourself with all caveats on accuracy and applicability, as detailed in the associated paper. Usage -------------------------- The basic usage is as follows, assuming `model_fn` is the path to the .pth file, and `X` is 2-channel input image(s) of the proper dimensions (either one image of shape `[2,12,24,24]`, or a batch of N input images of shape `[N,2,12,24,24]`): from CNN_inferencer import load_model_for_inference model = load_model_for_inference(model_fn) y_predicted = model(X) The model object automatically handles input scaling and output de-scaling based on the way the models were trained - in other words, pass in a 2-channel micro-CT image, and it will output microstructural property values in real units. ## Other model object attributes Note that model has useful attributes other than its forward pass model(X). * `model.output_descaler` - returns the output descaler object. Model does the de-scaling when generating inferences, but you may want to re-use this de-scaler on other values to e.g. compare predictions to ground truth from already-scaled training data. * `model.prop_names` - Gives the property names of the predicted y values, in order. Only exists if there's an output scaler as part of the model object, which there will be in the models provided here. ## Usage with sample data Here is a short script to use with the included sample data. from CNN_inferencer import display_predictions, load_model_for_inference, calculate_mape, parity_plot import h5py import numpy as np model_fn = 'anode_all_aug.pth' data_fn = 'Combined_anode_aug_dual_1k_examples.h5' N_samples = 200 figure_outdir = '.' model = load_model_for_inference(model_fn) with h5py.File(data_fn,'r') as f: XX = f['X'] #These are the 2-channel 3D images yy = f['y'] #These are the ground-truth microstructural properties, but they have been scaled for training - need to de-scale below N = XX.shape[0] #How many images total in the input data file #Run inferences on N_samples random samples from XX. #Run in a batch, much more efficient than one at a time. ii = np.random.choice(N,N_samples,replace=False) ii.sort() y_pred = model(XX[ii]) #Get the original/true (but normalized/scaled) values from the training dataset... #Because they were normalized, they are not in real units yet. So let's also de-scale them using model.output_scaler. y_true = model.output_scaler.transform(yy[ii]) #Let's display actual values for just 5 random ones for i in np.random.choice(N_samples,5,replace=False): display_predictions(y_true[i], y_pred[i], model.prop_names) #Make parity plots for each property (ground truth vs predicted values) #Also label each plot with the mean abs. percent error (MAPE) of the predicted values for i,key in enumerate(model.prop_names): mape = calculate_mape(y_true[:,i], y_pred[:,i]) parity_plot(y_true[:,i], y_pred[:,i], figure_outdir, key, extra_title=f' ({mape:.2f}% MAPE)')

3D microstructure↗