Development of a Method for Characterization of the Fibre Length of Long Staple Carbon Fibres Based on Image Analysis

For the manufacturing of load-bearing carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) made from staple carbon fibres (CF), statements of the CF fibre length in the composite are essential. However, no suitable fibre length measuring method is currently available for long staple CF over 60 mm. The aim of this study is the development of an effective method for characterization of the fibre length distribution of long staple CF. For this method, a fibre beard specimen is extracted from a sliver manufactured from 80 mm staple CF, which is then scanned. Greyscale values densities (GD) of the individual length classes are determined from the scanned images, which correspond to the number of fibres per length class. From the proportion of all length classes, a span length diagram and staple fibre length diagram can be compiled. The results show the good potential of the method developed for the fibre length measurement of long staple CF.