Tow Architecture and Mechanical Properties of 3-D Woven Composites

Gold and iodine contrast enhancements were applied to tows prior to weaving of multi-layer carbon fabrics in order to facilitate microCT scanning. Glass-fiber tows were also placed into multi-layer carbon fabrics in order to provide density difference, resulting in contrast with the untreated carbon. These methods allow visualization of the tows within the weave. Following CT scanning, the resultant images were processed using AMIRA, then converted into finite element models using two different procedures. The first was using CATIA to further process and smooth the volume, followed by paver meshing in ANSYS Workbench, resulting in an irregular mesh which conformed to all tow boundaries within the fabric. The second was automated voxel modeling using a Python script written as part of this research program, resulting in an approximate yet regular mesh.