Measurement and modelling of dynamic fluid saturation in carbon reinforcements

We propose a methodology to monitor the progressive saturation of a non-translucent unidirectional carbon fabric stack through its thickness by means of X-ray radiography and extract the dynamic saturation curves using image analysis. Four constant flow rate injections with increasing flow speed were carried out. These were simulated by a...

Effect of wettability and textile architecture on fluid displacement and pore formation during infiltration of carbon fibrous preforms

We seek to address how air entrapment mechanisms during infiltration are influenced by the wetting characteristics of the fluid and the pore network formed by the reinforcement. To this end, we evaluated the behavior of two model fluids with different surface tensions, infiltrating three carbon fiber reinforcements, by means of X-ray...

Capillary Effects in Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite Processing: A Review

Capillarity plays a crucial role in many natural and engineered systems, ranging from nutrient delivery in plants to functional textiles for wear comfort or thermal heat pipes for heat dissipation. Unlike nano- or microfluidic systems with well-defined pore network geometries and well-understood capillary flow, fiber textiles or preforms used...

Dual-scale visualization of resin flow for liquid composite molding processes

Visualization of resin flow progression through fibrous preforms is often sought to elucidate flow patterns and validate models for filling prediction for liquid composite molding processes. Here, conventional X-ray radiography is compared to X-ray phase contrast technique to image in-situ constant flow rate impregnation of a non-translucent...

In-operando dynamic visualization of flow through porous preforms based on X-ray phase contrast imaging

Direct visualization is often sought to elucidate flow patterns and validate models to predict the filling kinetics during processes whereby a liquid resin infiltrates a textile porous preform. Here, X-ray phase contrast interferometry is evaluated to image in-operando constant flow rate impregnation experiments of a model fluid into glass,...