Investigation on Tomographic-Based Nondestructive Characterization of Short Glass Fiber-Reinforced Composites as Obtained From Micro Injection Molding

Author(s):  
Jitendra Singh Rathore ◽  
Tomasz Konopczyński ◽  
Jürgen Hesser ◽  
Giovanni Lucchetta ◽  
Simone Carmignato

Abstract Quantitative assessment of fiber characteristics in composite parts is of great significance in order to correlate them with the fiber-induced mechanical properties. X-ray computed tomography (CT) is being successfully used as a three-dimensional nondestructive measuring technique for the analysis of fiber characteristics (mainly the fiber orientation and fiber volume content) in fiber-reinforced composite materials. However, the accuracy of such analyses depends on various factors (e.g., scanning parameters, resolution), which is the motivation for this study. The current work investigates the effect of CT scanning parameters and spatial resolution on the obtained fiber orientation and fiber volume content. First a simulation study is carried out using a computationally generated fiber composite model followed by a validation using a thin-wall injection-molded part. The findings showed that the effect of CT settings is not significant on the measurements, but the resolution affects the estimated fiber volume content adversely. A preliminary error calculation method is proposed for correcting the overestimation in the fiber volume content.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 549
Author(s):  
Chenfei Wang ◽  
Zixiong Guo ◽  
Ditao Niu

Polypropylene-fiber-reinforced concrete impacts the early shrinkage during the plastic stage of concrete, and the fiber volume content influences the durability-related properties of concrete. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the influence of fiber volume content on the mechanical properties, durability, and chloride ion penetration of polypropylene-fiber-reinforced concrete in a chloride environment. Tests were carried out on cubes and cylinders of polypropylene-fiber-reinforced concrete with polypropylene fiber contents ranging from 0% to 0.5%. Extensive data from flexural strength testing, dry–wet testing, deicer frost testing, and chloride penetration testing were recorded and analyzed. The test results show that the addition of the fiber improves the failure form of the concrete specimens, and 0.1% fiber content maximizes the compactness of the concrete. The flexural strength of specimen C2 with 0.1% fiber shows the highest strength obtained herein after freeze–thaw cycling, and the water absorption of specimen C2 is also the lowest after dry–wet cycling. The results also indicate that increasing the fiber volume content improves the freeze–thaw resistance of the concrete in a chloride environment. Chlorine ions migrate with the moisture during dry–wet and freeze–thaw cycling. The chlorine ion diffusion coefficient (Dcl) increases with increasing fiber content, except for that of specimen C2 in a chloride environment. The Dcl during freeze–thaw cycling is much higher than that during dry–wet cycling.


Author(s):  
Antony Paul ◽  
Jeffery M. Gallagher ◽  
Raymond J. Cipra ◽  
Thomas Siegmund

Fiber reinforced composite materials are now frequently being used over conventional materials for their ability to achieve tailored properties and performance characteristics. With the recent advancements in manufacturing techniques, short-fiber composites are coming into prominence in this sector, with their cost advantage and their capability for large throughput. Randomness of fiber orientation is inherent to short fiber composite manufacturing processes. In order to effectively manipulate the mechanical properties of a short-fiber reinforced composite, it is imperative to adequately control the orientation of the fibers during the deposition stage. A process is currently developed to acquire geometrical data of the target object and to utilize it to create a short-fiber reinforced component with controlled fiber orientation. The topological data acquisition of the object is made possible using non-contact 3D imaging techniques. The geometric data is then transferred to a commercial CAD package for the added capability to manipulate the geometry as may be required for specific applications. Subsequently, geometric data constitutes the basis of path planning for the tooling processes. In our process, a novel rapidly re-configurable tooling and molding technology is employed by which a 6-axis robotic arm is used to sculpt a pin-device vacuum surface. After the tooling is completed, the robotic arm will use a deposition nozzle to orient a steady stream of initially random short-fiber from a feeder into a unidirectional output, onto the tool surface. By controlling the position and orientation of the deposition nozzle, it is possible to control the orientation and density of fiber in each section of the near-net shaped composite pre-form. The fiber pre-form is then impregnated with a suitable matrix medium and cured to create the required component. The outlined process is thus capable of manufacturing a near-net shaped short-fiber reinforced component with highly specific mechanical properties. One of the many applications envisaged using this process is the manufacture of custom form-fitting braces, masks and guards for use in healthcare products. A patient intervention can have his or her features acquired using stereo-imaging and have corrective measures incorporated into the device prior to manufacturing. By controlling the orientation and density of the fiber at different portions of the device, it is possible to provide adequate support at specific areas or to restrict movement in specific directions while providing compliance to movement in the others.


2019 ◽  
Vol 809 ◽  
pp. 587-593
Author(s):  
Simon Zabler ◽  
Katja Schladitz ◽  
Kilian Dremel ◽  
Jonas Graetz ◽  
Dascha Dobrovolskij

To detect and characterize materials defects in fiber composites as well as for evaluatingthe three-dimensional local fiber orientation in the latter, X-ray micro-CT is the preferred methodof choice. When micro computed tomography is applied to inspect large components, the method isreferred to as region-of-interest computed tomography. Parts can be as large as 10 cm wide and 1 mlong, while the measurement volume of micro computed tomography is a cylinder of only 4 − 5 mmdiameter (typical wall thickness of fiber composite parts). In this report, the potentials and limits ofregion-of-interest computed tomography are discussed with regard to spatial resolution and precisionwhen evaluating defects and local fiber orientation in squeeze cast components. The micro computedtomography scanner metRIC at Fraunhofer‘s Development Center X-ray Technology EZRT deliversregion-of-interest computed tomography up to a spatial resolution of 2 μm/voxel, which is sufficientfor determining the orientation of natural or synthetic fibers, wood, carbon and glass. The mean localfiber orientation is estimated on an isotropic structuring element of approximately 0.1 mm length bymeans of volume image analysis (MAVI software package by Fraunhofer ITWM). Knowing the exactlocal fiber orientation is critical for estimating anisotropic thermal conductivity and materials strength.


Author(s):  
G. VELMURUGAN ◽  
D. VADIVEL ◽  
R. ARRAVIND ◽  
A. MATHIAZHAGAN ◽  
S.P. VENGATESAN

This project mainly deals with analysis of tensile properties of Palmyra fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composite that is suitable for automobile application. First, the property of material was obtained on the basis of some assumptions (i.e., Rule of Mixture) and was modeled with reference to ASTM D638. Here the simulation was carried out on specimen under different fiber volume fraction and fiber length. The present work includes the Analysis of Palmyra Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites using FEA with various fiber volume fractions and these results were validated with the experimental result. The tensile property of Palmyra fiber composite material can be obtained by using tensometer.During the tensile load, the maximum strain, stress and displacement were obtained and, then this experimental result was compared with the analytical results and the error percentage of these results were calculated.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Armin Kech ◽  
Susanne Kugler ◽  
Tim Osswald

This study aims to evaluate how fiber orientation results are dependent on fluctuations in input parameters, such as the average fiber length, fiber volume content, and initial alignment of fibers. The range of parameters is restricted to deviations within one specific short fiber reinforced thermoplastic and is not set up to investigate the differences between materials. The evaluation was conducted by a virtual shear cell based on a mechanistic modeling approach. The fiber orientation prediction model discussed is the pARD-RSC (principal anisotropic rotary diffusion-reduced strain closure) model implemented as a user routine in AUTODESK MOLDFLOW INSIGHT® (AMI®). The material investigated was discontinuous short glass fiber reinforced PBT (polybutylene-terephthalate), which is often used for housings in various industries. It is shown that variation in the input parameters, although having an influence on the fiber orientation model parameters, only affects the final orientation moderately.


2014 ◽  
Vol 936 ◽  
pp. 154-163
Author(s):  
Rui Xu ◽  
Jun Kui Mao ◽  
Jing Yu Zhang ◽  
De Cang Lou ◽  
Wen Guo

The prediction of fiber reinforced ceramic is one of the most important procedure when investigating the application of ceramic composite. Numerical simulations were applied and a novel model was brought out in this paper. Firstly, four different models for predicting thermal conductivities of unidirectional fiber reinforced materials were compared, which include the Rayleigh,LN,ST and TE model,. It shows that Rayleigh model and LN model have good precision only in low fiber volume content cases. There existed big differences between the experimental and numerical results if predicted the high fiber volume content with either these four models. Then a novel model based on LN model was studied with the correction of the representative volume element method. Further comparison results indicate that the error can be reduced as 55.6% with this novel model. At the same time, the longitudinal (k11) and transverse (k22) thermal conductivities predicted by the novel model were also analyzed. It was found thatk11had a linear relationship with fiber volume fraction and thermal conductivity ratio (p). Butk22had a nonlinear relationship with fiber volume fraction, which increased much greatly when fiber volume fraction increasing at high fiber volume fraction andp>1.


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