Lars Raue

New insights in prism orientation within human enamel.

The knowledge about the orientation of the prisms in human dental enamel is mainly based on morphological observations (light optical, SEM, etc.). Hence there are many schematic drawings, showing the orientation as seen in the microscope. Locally resolved direct measurements of the orientations, proofing the observations, have not been done in detail up to now. X-ray diffraction methods adapted from material science are used in this study, providing directly the orientation of the crystallites in the examined positions. Hereby new and better detailed information was obtained, showing the orientation of the prisms and giving information about their intrinsic structure. Based on the measurements, existing prism orientation models can be enhanced and two structural suggestions can be made, showing possible inner building principles for the prisms. Future planned measurements will even allow deciding which of the two models is more likely.

Calculation of anisotropic properties of dental enamel from synchrotron data.

Obtaining information about the intrinsic structure of polycrystalline materials is of prime importance owing to the anisotropic behaviour of individual crystallites. Grain orientation and its statistical distribution, i.e. the texture, have an important influence on the material properties. Crystallographic orientations play an important role in all kinds of polycrystalline materials such as metallic, geological and biological. Using synchrotron diffraction techniques the texture can be measured with high local and angular resolving power. Here methods are presented which allow the spatial orientation of the crystallites to be determined and information about the anisotropy of mechanical properties, such as elastic modulus or thermal expansion, to obtained. The methods are adapted to all crystal and several sample symmetries as well as to different phases, for example with overlapping diffraction peaks. To demonstrate the abilities of the methods, human dental enamel has been chosen, showing even overlapping diffraction peaks. Likewise it is of special interest to learn more about the orientation and anisotropic properties of dental enamel, since only basic information is available up to now. The texture of enamel has been found to be a tilted fibre texture of high strength (up to 12.5×). The calculated elastic modulus is up to 155 GPa and the thermal expansion up to 22.3 × 10(-6)°C(-1).

Location Depending Textures of the Human Dental Enamel

Dental enamel is the most highly mineralised and hardest biological tissue in human body [1]. Dental enamel is made of hydroxylapatite (HAP) - Ca5(PO4)3(OH), which is hexagonal (6/m). The lattice parameters are a = b = 0.9418 nm und c = 0.6875 nm [1]. Although HAP is a very hard mineral, it can be dissolved easily in a process which is known as enamel demineralization by lactic acid produced by bacteria. Also the direct consumption of acid (e.g. citric, lactic or phosphoric acid in soft drinks) can harm the dental enamel in a similar way. These processes can damage the dental enamel. It will be dissolved completely and a cavity occurs. The cavity must then be cleaned and filled. It exists a lot of dental fillings, like gold, amalgam, ceramics or polymeric materials. After filling other dangers can occur: The mechanical properties of the materials used to fill cavities can differ strongly from the ones of the dental enamel itself. In the worst case, the filling of a tooth can damage the enamel of the opposite tooth by chewing if the interaction of enamel and filling is not equivalent, so that the harder fillings can abrade the softer enamel of the healthy tooth at the opposite side. This could be avoided if the anisotropic mechanical properties of dental enamel would be known in detail, hence then another filling could be searched or fabricated as an equivalent opponent for the dental enamel with equal properties. To find such a material, one has to characterise the properties of dental enamel first in detail for the different types of teeth (incisor, canine, premolar and molar). This is here exemplary done for a human incisor tooth by texture analysis with the program MAUD from 2D synchrotron transmission images [2,3,4].

Recrystallization Texture and Microstructure in Ni and AlMg1Mn1 Determined with High-Energy Synchrotron Radiation

The newly developed “sweeping detector” technique with high energy synchrotron radiation allows to measure textures and microstructures of materials with high location and orientation resolution. This method was applied to hot rolled aluminium manganese alloys and to rolled nickel samples in different recrystallization stages. The grain-resolved measurements show, impressively, many details of the recrystallization process which can otherwise not be seen. That can be the base for comprehensive recrystallization theories.

The Exoskeleton of the American Lobster – From Texture to Anisotropic Properties

The exoskeleton of the crustacean Homarus americanus, the American lobster, is a biological multiphase composite consisting of a crystalline organic matrix (chitin), crystalline biominerals (calcite), amorphous calcium carbonate and proteins. One special structural aspect is the occurrence of pronounced crystallographic orientations and resulting directional anisotropic mechanical properties. The crystallographic textures of chitin and calcite have been measured by wide-angle Bragg diffraction, calculating the Orientation Distribution Function (ODF) from pole figures by using the series expansion method according to Bunge. A general strong relationship can be established between the crystallographic and the resulting mechanical and physical properties.

input4MAUD: an efficient program for automatic two-dimensional diffraction image series input and/or batch refinement with MAUD

In materials science or applied crystallography, X-ray diffraction represents a versatile and useful method with which one can obtain the orientation of single crystals or even the texture of a polycrystalline material. When the investigated sample consists of many phases, or phases of low symmetry, it becomes difficult to measure pole figures from single diffraction peaks. A combined Rietveld–texture analysis with the program MAUD is perfectly suitable to deal with conditions of overlapping diffraction peaks, including those arising from different phases. Even though nearly no alternative to MAUD exists, it is not always easy to use. The input of a file series of two-dimensional diffraction images, for example from a texture measurement, can be time consuming since each individual image must be loaded manually, and only the newest beta version of MAUD allows semi-automated file input. The new program input4MAUD, which is presented in this paper, offers a much more efficient way to automate both single and batch file series input into MAUD as well as the preparation of basic batch refinements with MAUD. input4MAUD is written in Visual C++ and is currently available as a 32-bit statically compiled binary executable file for Windows.

Measurement of High-Resolution Recrystallization Textures in Nickel Sheets Using High-Energy Synchrotron Radiation

The new developed “sweeping detector” techniques using high energy synchrotron radiation allow to measure textures and microstructures of materials and their change during heat treatment with high location and orientation resolution. Here we show these new methods applied to cold rolled and subsequently annealed nickel samples. The grain-resolved measurements show, impressively, many details of the recrystallization process which can otherwise not be seen. The results of these measurements can be the base for omprehensive recrystallization theories.

Determination of the orientation relations between the low- and high-temperature phases of NiS

In order to get information about the transition mechanism, the temperature-induced transformation in the binary com¬pound NiS was investigated. Above 379 °C, a single crystal of millerite -NiS transforms to polycrystalline NiAs type -NiS with a sharp texture. Pole figures of both phases in the same orientation were measured using synchrotron radiation and an imaging plate detector. The Rietveld texture analysis showed that there are at least three components of the high-temperature -NiS phase. The main component shows the following orientation relations: [001]NiAs type  [001]millerite, [100]NiAs type  [210]millerite, [210]NiAs type  [100]millerite. The broad peaks of the recovered polycrystalline millerite occur at the same positions as the reflections of the original single crystal.

Determination of Multipeak Textures with High-Energy Synchrotron Radiation

In classical sense the texture of polycrystalline materials is a continuous function of three variables (e.g. Eulerian angles {φ1Φφ2}) describing the crystal orientation g. This definition does not take into account individual crystallites and their positions {xyz} in the sample. The most general description of the polycrystalline structure must specify the orientation g(xyz) at any point in the material. Texture development during recrystallization can be studied by X-ray diffraction. With classical methods of texture measurements it is only possible to receive statistical distribution functions of many crystallites which cannot be distinguished individually. In order to understand the processes of recrystallization or grain growth, the reaction of single crystallites must be known to follow their individual ‘life path’ during these processes.