Study of the structure of fibrous composite material using computational x-ray tomography

Abstract

the article discusses the determination of the actual porosity and the actual volumetric content of the reinforcing material and binder in a sample of fibrous polymer composite material (FPCM) using the non-destructive method of computational x-ray tomography. It is shown that the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) of X-ray radiation in the volume of the sample under study based on the set of integral shadow projections obtained by X-ray transmission in various directions and its root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) provide sufficient information about the parameters of the microstructure of the sample under study. To obtain quantitative characteristics of porosity and volumetric content of components, it is necessary to examine test samples made from similar components with previously known various parameters of the material structure in the required range of scatter of these characteristics. The proposed method can be used as a non-destructive control of the structure parameters of critically important products made of VPCM, both in general and in selected local areas of the product. Also, this method is recommended for determining the actual porosity and the actual volumetric content of the binder when carrying out research work on the influence of VPCM structure parameters on the durability and residual strength of samples when exposed to external factors during operation, in particular when carrying out certification work on elementary samples.