Advanced x-ray imaging of carbon fiber microstructure - A374
| Advanced x-ray imaging of carbon fiber microstructure | |
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| Perspectives article | |
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| Document Type | Article |
| Document Identifier | 374 |
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Webinar Date
Presenter
Toby Bond
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Introduction
Manufacturing defects are a complex and often expensive problem in carbon fiber composites. Understanding the underlying causes of various defects requires accurate characterization and, ideally, quantification. Characterizing fiber-level defects can be very difficult, as they cannot typically be resolved by conventional x-ray or ultrasonic imaging. While 2D sectioning methods can be used to study such defects, this approach is destructive and may not always capture higher-dimensional features.
Fiber microstructure can however be imaged in 3D using advanced x-ray imaging techniques like synchrotron-based computed tomography (CT). Using this technique, we can non-destructively image subtle fiber-level features like wrinkling, misalignment, and fiber-particle interactions in 3D. This type of imaging can even be done in situ, to capture defects as they form during the curing process or for different part geometries. This talk will cover results of recent collaborations between the Composites Research Network and the Canadian Light Source (Canada’s national synchrotron facility) to develop new tools to characterize fiber-level defects and better understand how they form.
This presentation is part of CKN’s ongoing Application + Impact (AIM) webinar series. Content discussed in the webinar is linked to the Knowledge in Practice Centre, allowing users to access this and other content in a consistent and coherent manner.
Presenter
Toby Bond
Senior Scientist, Canadian Light Source Inc., Saskatoon
Webinar
Webinar slides
Webinar slides available by clicking on the icon below
Additional information for select chapters
| Chapter | Chapter Title | Links to related information in the Knowledge in Practice Centre |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Welcome & introductions | N/A |
| 2 | Knowledge in Practice Centre | |
| 2 | Outline | |
| 3 | Non-destructive imaging | |
| 4 | Computed tomography (CT) |
TBD |
| 5 | Computed tomography (CT) |
TBD |
| 6 | What is a synchrotron? |
TBD |
| 7 | Synchrotron CT |
TBD |
| 8 | Phase-contrast x-ray imaging |
TBD |
| 9 | The Canadian Light Source (CLS) | |
| 10 | Visible-light microscopy | |
| 11 | Lab-based CT | |
| 12 | Analyzing carbon fiber parts | |
| 13 | Analyzing individual carbon fibers | |
| 14 | In-situ imaging before/after cure | |
| 15 | Q&A | N/A |
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| About | Help |
Welcome
Welcome to the CKN Knowledge in Practice Centre (KPC). The KPC is a resource for learning and applying scientific knowledge to the practice of composites manufacturing. As you navigate around the KPC, refer back to the information on this right-hand pane as a resource for understanding the intricacies of composites processing and why the KPC is laid out in the way that it is. The following video explains the KPC approach:
Understanding Composites Processing
The Knowledge in Practice Centre (KPC) is centered around a structured method of thinking about composite material manufacturing. From the top down, the heirarchy consists of:
- The factory
- Factory cells and/or the factory layout
- Process steps (embodied in the factory process flow) consisting of:
The way that the material, shape, tooling & consumables and equipment (abbreviated as MSTE) interact with each other during a process step is critical to the outcome of the manufacturing step, and ultimately critical to the quality of the finished part. The interactions between MSTE during a process step can be numerous and complex, but the Knowledge in Practice Centre aims to make you aware of these interactions, understand how one parameter affects another, and understand how to analyze the problem using a systems based approach. Using this approach, the factory can then be developed with a complete understanding and control of all interactions.
Interrelationship of Function, Shape, Material & Process
Design for manufacturing is critical to ensuring the producibility of a part. Trouble arises when it is considered too late or not at all in the design process. Conversely, process design (controlling the interactions between shape, material, tooling & consumables and equipment to achieve a desired outcome) must always consider the shape and material of the part. Ashby has developed and popularized the approach linking design (function) to the choice of material and shape, which influence the process selected and vice versa, as shown below:
Within the Knowledge in Practice Centre the same methodology is applied but the process is more fully defined by also explicitly calling out the equipment and tooling & consumables. Note that in common usage, a process which consists of many steps can be arbitrarily defined by just one step, e.g. "spray-up". Though convenient, this can be misleading.
Workflows
The KPC's Practice and Case Study volumes consist of three types of workflows:
- Development - Analyzing the interactions between MSTE in the process steps to make decisions on processing parameters and understanding how the process steps and factory cells fit within the factory.
- Troubleshooting - Guiding you to possible causes of processing issues affecting either cost, rate or quality and directing you to the most appropriate development workflow to improve the process
- Optimization - An expansion on the development workflows where a larger number of options are considered to achieve the best mixture of cost, rate & quality for your application.
