A computer-controlled macroscope (G50) has rotating polarising filters above and below the stage. The LED illumination system is polyaxial with a vertical axis and eight inclined axes. The high resolution four megapixel camera transfers images to the controlling notebook computer at 15 frames per second via Gigabit Ethernet.
This provides an automated data acquisition system that
can be used for the collection of c-axis crystallographic fabric
data in hexagonal mineral systems in rocks, ice aggregates and in apatite fission track mounts. This instrument can
be purchased by contacting Chris
Wilson (cjlw@unimelb.edu.au).
G50 set-up for collection of microstructural data.
The stage can accommodate thin sections of up to 100 x 100 mm with motors controlling translations in the X and Y
directions to 5 µm resolution. No tilting of the thin section is required for the analysis. The software system on the
computer controls the stage and captures images directly from the camera. Composite optical images of the total thin
section are then used for the analysis of the c-axis at any particular point or over a selected area (enabling whole thin section analysis).
The analysis process works in two stages:
The analytical instrument scans the thin section and collects and processes image data. -
The section data acquired from the analytical instrument is loaded into a separate analysis software
(called INVESTIGATOR) that allows the operator to examine individual crystallographic variation across
individual grains. Unlike traditional texture analysis the information allows considerable interactive
data processing, using INVESTIGATOR, as the link between microstructure and individual c-axis orientations.
|
