Development of a Quantitative Multimodal Imaging Technique for In-situ Study of Iron Archaeological Artefacts

Elodie Granget, Ocson Reginald Cocen, Mahdieh Shakoorioskooie, Zhan Qianru, Marian Nida Lumongsod-Thompson, Anders Kaestner, David Mannes, Laura Brambilla

Abstract

This paper presents the methodology and preliminary results of the SNSF Sinergia project CORINT. The project aims to elucidate the corrosion phenomena of iron objects in various porous media, in particular iron archaeological artefacts (IAAs) in soil. A multimodal quantitative imaging technique, combining neutron and X-ray computed tomography (NX-CT), is being developed to study corrosion processes non-destructively. The methodology involves the registration and fusion of neutron and X-ray tomogram data (i.e., using a bivariate histogram), followed by segmentation using Gaussian mixture model (GMM) clustering. Two IAAs, with sample names Vrac C and BdC1, were imaged. Random cross-sections of these samples were also analyzed using optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and SEM-EDS to characterize and cross-correlate the corrosion layers with the NX-CT results. This research provides insights into the corrosion state of IAAs and offers a non-destructive approach to studying corrosion processes in porous media. This will bring benefits to cultural heritage preservation, and to the study of the long-term corrosion behaviors of modern iron structures, steel in concrete, and nuclear waste disposal plans.

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IMEKO-MetroArchaeo-2023-078.pdf

DOI

10.21014/tc4-ARC-2023.078

IMEKO TC

TC4 - Measurement of Electrical Quantities

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