Vitreous enamel steels (VES) are a class of metal-ceramic composite materials realised with a low carbon steel basement coated by an enamel layer. During the firing phase to adhere the enamel to the metal, several gas bubbles remain entrapped inside the enamel volume modifying its internal structure. In this work high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) was used to investigate these composite materials. The micro-CT reconstructions enabled a detailed investigation of VES minimising the metal artefacts. The tomograms were used to develop finite element models (FEM) of VES by means of a representative volume element (RVE) to evaluate the thermal residual stresses caused by the manufacturing process, as well as the effect of the 3D bubbles distribution on the internal stress patterns after the thermic gradient. The promising results from this study have the potential to inform further research on such composite materials by optimising manufacturing processes for targeted applications.

中文翻译：

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用于研究搪瓷钢应力分布的高分辨率 X 射线断层扫描工作流程

搪瓷钢 (VES) 是一类金属-陶瓷复合材料，由涂有搪瓷层的低碳钢基底制成。在将搪瓷粘附到金属上的烧制阶段，几个气泡仍被困在搪瓷体积内，从而改变了其内部结构。在这项工作中，高分辨率 X 射线计算机断层扫描 (micro-CT) 用于研究这些复合材料。微型 CT 重建能够对 VES 进行详细调查，以最大限度地减少金属伪影。断层图用于通过代表性体积元 (RVE) 开发 VES 的有限元模型 (FEM)，以评估制造过程引起的热残余应力，以及 3D 气泡分布对内应力的影响热梯度后的图案。