Micro-CT measurement of fibre misalignment: Application to carbon/epoxy laminates manufactured in autoclave and by vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding

This paper proposes a methodology for measurement of fibre misalignment in composite laminates based on the structure tensor of fibre orientations extracted from X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) images. The methodology is applied to carbon fibre/epoxy composites manufactured with two technologies: (1) by prepregging and consolidation in an autoclave and (2) by vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding. The results show that the in-plane inter-ply misalignment of fibres in the prepreg laminate and in the infusion-produced laminate is within 2-4 and 1-2, respectively. The misalignment results allow better understanding of the manufacturing typical fibre orientation precision level for the low pressure (vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding) and high pressure (autoclave) manufacturing. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.