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Title: Comparing non-destructive 3D X-ray computed tomography with destructive optical microscopy for microstructural characterization of fiber reinforced composites

Journal Article · · Composites Science and Technology
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
  2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Due to their lightweight, relatively high stiffness properties, and formability into complex shapes, discontinuous fiber composites are advantageous for producing small and medium size components. Improved characterization techniques and post-processing methodologies are required for more reliable quantification of the microstructure and defect distributions in these materials, in order to employ model-based approaches to assess their structural integrity. This work compares a non-destructive X-ray approach with a destructive optical microscopy approach for characterizing the microstructural attributes, specifically the fiber volume fraction, porosity volume fraction, fiber orientation distribution, and fiber length distribution of discontinuous glass fibers in a polypropylene matrix. Additionally, a method for destructively determining the ambiguous components of the orientation tensor (related to the sign ambiguity of the out-of-plane angle in a destructive cross-sectional cut of a fiber) over a large surface area is included. It was found that fiber volume fraction and average fiber aspect ratio matched well, while fiber orientation and porosity detection had small but notable differences. Here, the differences in the detection capabilities of each technique are quantified and discussed shedding light on the specific advantages and disadvantages of each approach, and enabling engineers to quantify uncertainty in their microstructural characterization measurements especially as they relate to model based structural integrity activities.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AC02 06CH11357; HR0011-17-2-0069
OSTI ID:
1583107
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1702177
Report Number(s):
BNL-213525-2020-JAAM; TRN: US2100860
Journal Information:
Composites Science and Technology, Vol. 184, Issue C; ISSN 0266-3538
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 17 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

ModLayer: A MATLAB GUI Drawing Segmentation Tool for Visualizing and Classifying 3D Data journal November 2019
Predicting Microstructural Void Nucleation in Discontinuous Fiber Composites through Coupled in-situ X-ray Tomography Experiments and Simulations journal February 2020

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
Short-fiber composites
Non-destructive testing
Optical microscopy