In the following, we are going to give an overview of the main research and technological achievements with respect to the previously defined goals. These are getting further explained in the sections below.
The project has three major goals,
-1) the development of texture tomography as a tool study the crystallographic orientation in 3D with 100 nm spatial resolution
-2) Determine the multi-scale load transfer in the enthesis structure during in-situ loading with texture tomography
-3) Build a micro-mechanical model which allows to predict elastic properties and enthesis damage thresholds
In terms of scientific output, work has been carried out mostly towards goals 1) and 2) in accordance with the time planning.
With respect to goal 1), we have established a full mathematical description of the texture tomography problem, build a high-performance code to carry out the inversions. The publication describing the code has been submitted to peer-review, a pre-print has been submitted and the code will be released to the public upon acceptance of the manuscript via a gitlab repository. Linked to the code development, we have started to organize a training workshop, to be held in Marseille in February 2025. The aim of this workshop is to train users in the use of the TexTOM code.
In order to accurately benchmark the method, the development of a benchmark sample system for spatial and angular resolution has been started. We have chosen to develop a series of nanoparticle-filled polymers and introduce different textures during the thermal processing steps. First synchrotron experiments with the system have been carried out and the data treatment is ongoing.
The work on goal 2) are processing well too in collaboration with our project partners. The full characterization of 2D sections with our multi-modal imaging approach for nanostructural, crystalline and elemental composition has been carried out. These experiments establish a clear base-line for the 3D experiments. Together with the strong help of our project partners, we have developed protocols for the preparation of small 3D samples for the TexTOM characterization with high, 200 nm spatial resolution and first, succesful experiments have been carried out.
We have furthermore used Texture tomography and derived methods to address current problems in the biomineral community together with our collaborators, in particular the bone community.
We are currently progressing in the development of an in-situ loading device, suitable for 3D TexTOM and hope to carry out first experiments in the coming semester.
