A Topology-Based Approach to Representative Volume Element Assessment in Solid Oxide Cell Anodes Using Large Volume Tomography and Persistent Homology

Abstract

Determining the representative volume element is essential for establishing statistically meaningful microstructure-property relationships. Conventional approaches rely on the convergence of selected geometric descriptors, which may yield different estimates of the representative volume. Here, we propose a topology-based framework for assessing the representative scale of a nickel-yttria-stabilized zirconia solid oxide cell anode reconstructed using plasma focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (121.8 um x 83.97 um x 45.99 um). Persistent homology was used to characterize the pore network, and normalized persistence images of subvolumes were compared with those of the largest available reference volume using the L1 distance. This provides a continuous measure of topological similarity across observation scales, rather than defining representativeness through a single convergence threshold. The topological distance decreases with increasing volume and is described by empirical exponential models over the investigated range (R2 in [0.972, 0.983]). Comparison with porosity and specific surface area highlights differences in the scale-dependent behavior of geometric and topological descriptors. The framework was also tested on three independent synthetic realizations, demonstrating its potential for quantitative assessment of topological similarity in porous microstructures.