Network images of drainage channels in sea spray icing by MR microscopy

An MR imaging system was developed to visualize brine drainage channels in sea spray icing. Brine pockets trapped in spray-ice matrices during ice growth are structural features of sea spray icing. Brine in the spray ice sample had drained out; therefore, using a suction pump, we filled the air gaps in the drainage channels with dodecane. In the experiments, 0.5-1.0 h was necessary to accumulate signals sufficient to obtain a 3-D micro-image; the image matrix comprised 1283 voxels (each voxel was 200 μm per side). The MIP view showed that sea spray icing has a developed drainage-channel network structure.