A non-destructive X-ray microtomography approach for measuring fibre length in short-fibre composites

An improved method based on X-ray microtomography is developed for estimating fibre length distribution of short-fibre composite materials. In particular, a new method is proposed for correcting the biasing effects caused by the finite sample size as defined by the limited field of view of the tomographic devices. The method is first tested for computer generated fibre data and then applied in analyzing the fibre length distribution in three different types of wood fibre reinforced composite materials. The results were compared with those obtained by an independent method based on manual registration of fibres in images from a light microscope. The method can be applied in quality control and in verifying the effects of processing parameters on the fibre length and on the relevant mechanical properties of short fibre composite materials, e.g. stiffness, strength and fracture toughness.