Analysis of yarn fiber volume fraction in textile composites using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray micro-computed tomography

Abstract

Variation of yarn fiber volume fraction, induced by the compression between adjacent yarns during the manufacturing process of textile composites, is difficult to be determined by using a single imaging method. A method combining scanning electron microscopy and micro-computed tomography is proposed to quantify the variation of yarn fiber volume fraction of textile composites, which is decomposed into systematic trend and stochastic deviation. The method takes the advantages of high resolution of scanning electron microscopy and wide 3D view of micro-computed tomography. Average fiber cross-sectional areas are acquired by analyzing hundreds of fiber cross-sectional areas in scanning electron microscopic images. Yarn cross-sectional area is determined by fitting ellipse to the labeled yarn cross-section in slices of micro-computed tomography images. The results of E-glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy specimens show that their systematic trends of yarn fiber volume fraction combined with standard deviations of stochastic deviation, relative to the respective global means, fluctuate between [−11.4%, 15.3%] and [−12.9%, 10.7%], respectively. Yarn FVF varies in specimen obviously and needs to be considered in mechanical property prediction.