Postprocessing Workflow for Laboratory Diffraction Contrast Tomography: A Case Study on Chromite Geomaterials

Area of Science:

• Geology and Earth Sciences
• Mineralogy
• Materials Science

Background:

• Texture is crucial for understanding geological processes and mineral formation.
• Accurate textural characterization is vital for engineering applications like mining and metal extraction.
• Laboratory diffraction contrast tomography (LabDCT) is a 3D technique for analyzing grain phases, morphology, distribution, and crystal orientation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address artifacts in Laboratory diffraction contrast tomography (LabDCT) analysis.
• To develop and present a novel postprocessing workflow for correcting these artifacts.
• To enhance the accuracy of 3D textural characterization in natural rock samples.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel postprocessing workflow to correct artifacts in LabDCT data.
• Rectified inaccurate grain boundaries and interpolated partially reconstructed grains.
• Applied and illustrated the workflow using multi-scan LabDCT data from chromite sands and natural chromitite.

Main Results:

• Successfully corrected artifacts in LabDCT scans, leading to more accurate grain boundary identification.
• Provided more precise interpolation of partially reconstructed grains.
• Validated the postcorrected LabDCT results using 2D electron back-scattered diffraction.

Conclusions:

• The developed postprocessing workflow significantly improves the precision of 3D textural characterization using LabDCT.
• This advancement offers valuable insights for both earth science and engineering applications.
• The method holds substantial potential for accurate textural analysis in complex geological materials.