Nanosecond-scale in situ measurements of damage evolution for engineering materials

We propose to develop a new approach to quantitatively probe at ns timescales, the evolution of dynamic tensile damage and failure through combination of a novel target geometry and real-time X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCI). By introducing a computationally optimised impact configuration, we will spatially distribute failure, thereby encoding time resolution along space in 2D XPCI MHz sequences. We will explore a combination of shorter XPCI propagation distances, filtered white beam, and thermal corrections for scintillator light yield, to prioritise quantitative density measurements, and move beyond the simple kinematic measurements which are currently state-of-the-art at ID19. The successful demonstration of this technique will represent a seismic step change in our ability to quantitatively probe ultrafast kinetics, such as complex damage states in dynamically loaded materials.