Combining digital image correlation with X-ray computed tomography for characterization of fiber orientation in unidirectional composites

We apply Digital Image Correlation (DIC) to X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) slices for characterization of individual fibers misalignment in continuous fiber composites. This is an atypical application of DIC since the input is slices of a CT tomogram acquired at one time step, whereas the input of the typical deformation analysis application is 2D images captured over consecutive loading steps. The methodology is demonstrated and validated on synchrotron CT images of a glass/epoxy laminate, where individual fibers can be clearly identified. It is found that the average/standard deviation of the DIC displacement field in every CT slice is a good estimation of the average/standard deviation of the actual displacement of all fibers' cross-sections in that slice. This provides a shortcut to the measurement of the moments of fiber orientation distribution, compared to the algorithms that reconstruct the fiber center lines. Using this shortcut, the fiber misalignment was also characterized in synchrotron CT images of a carbon/epoxy laminate, where individual fibers were not clearly observed and where, fiber segmentation tools failed to characterize the fibers. Furthermore, being applied to synchrotron images acquired during in-situ tension, the methodology is employed to quantify the evolution of misalignment during tension. The investigated 3D volumes are provided in [1] and described in [2].

Automated summary

DIC is applied to analyze individual fiber misalignment in continuous fiber composites using CT slices, providing an efficient estimation method for actual fiber displacement. The method is validated on synchrotron CT images of glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy laminates, demonstrating its ability to quantify misalignment evolution during tension. This approach offers a shortcut for characterizing fiber orientation distribution moments compared to traditional algorithms.