Microstructural analysis of short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics based on x-ray micro-computed tomography. (20th October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hessman, Patrick Arthur; Riedel, Thomas; Welschinger, Fabian; Hornberger, Kurt; Böhlke, Thomas
• Is Part Of: Composites science and technology. Volume 183(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-10-20
• Subjects: Single fiber segmentation -- Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs) -- Short fiber composites -- Non-destructive testing -- Injection molding; Composite materials -- Periodicals; Composite materials; Fibrous composites; Periodicals; 620.118
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compscitech.2019.107752
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0266-3538

Abstract

Abstract: As a result of the injection molding process, short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics (SFRT) exhibit complex microstructures with fibers of different length and orientation as well as spatially varying fiber volume fractions. Their mechanical and functional performance can therefore only be predicted and ensured based on precise knowledge of said microstructure. To that end, x-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) is commonly employed, with analysis software most-often yielding the fiber orientation tensors but lacking more detailed results. In order to increase the quality of the microstructural data, more accurate analysis techniques are necessary that include single fiber information for detailed correlations of microstructural parameters. In this work, a novel algorithm is suggested that relies on an iterative single fiber segmentation and merging procedure to obtain the fiber characteristics: orientation, location, radius and length. The algorithm is implemented in an efficient manner in Python, making heavy use of parallelization techniques. It is then applied to μCT scans and artificially generated 3D data of short glass fiber reinforced polyamide 6.6 with fiber mass fractions of 35 % . The algorithm has been validated using reference data, commercial software and experimental fiber length data from an incinerated specimen and was shown to be both robust and accurate.