Void Content Measurement in Fiber Reinforced Plastic Composites by X-Ray Computed Tomography

The void formation in FRP composites is unavoidable and the void content measurement is very important to study its deleterious effects on the mechanical properties of the material. Generally destructive methods are used to calculate the void volume fraction. But the recent advances in X-ray computed tomography can be used to detect and quantify the void content in the composites in a non-destructive manner. In this study average area method is proposed and validated for the void volume measurement from the X-ray CT image slices through digital image processing. The effects of void size, shape and position in the accuracy of the measurement is studied and presented here. The void volume fraction of a CFRP laminate manufactured with compression molding technique is calculated by this method and found to be around 1%.