An image morphing method for 3D reconstruction and FE-analysis of pore networks in thermal spray coatings

Using thermal spraying various surface coatings consisting of different material compositions can be manufactured. Besides different solid phases the resulting coating microstructure often contains a non-negligible amount of pores altering their mechanical properties. A common practice to analyze the porosity and composition of a coating is to create cross section images using standard light microscopy equipment or a scanning electron microscope. In this paper a method is presented to construct a three-dimensional multiphase model of the coating from a number of such cross section images by means of an image morphing technique. The resulting model can then be used for visualization purposes or further analysis e.g. within a finite element simulation. The described method has been applied to the construction of a finite element model of a porous coating sample which is used in a compaction simulation to determine its behavior in a rolling process. The required cross section images were obtained using a successive grinding and microscopy procedure. The material behavior of the porous material is modeled by using a modified Johnson-Cook material model formulation for an elasto-viscoplastic material. Comparison of 2D and 3D-simulation results are shown.