“Up-dimensioning” Improves Synthetic Grain Microstructure Evaluation

Researchers from the Superconducting Magnet Program in the Berkeley Lab ATAP Division have demonstrated an up-dimensioning procedure for approximating the 3D grain size distribution of a microstructure from 2D cross-sections for equiaxed grains (grains whose sizes are approximately equal in each direction). While grain size analysis has an established history and is widely used by the ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials) standards, this work sheds new light on understanding different 2D methodologies through synthetic grain structures by allowing a more detailed and easily scalable study of grain microstructure.

This research suggests an alternative procedure for determining the true 3D grain size parameter, which is possible without changing how images are acquired or segmented. However, it requires a more substantial analysis than ASTM International standards. Nevertheless, realistic synthetic grain structure data can train artificial intelligence/machine learning models to automatically perform instance segmentation (grain labeling). The work significantly enhances the accuracy and speed of analyzing the effects of novel design parameters on the niobium-tin wire performance, thereby demonstrating the practical implications of this research.

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