Digital Microscopy was employed to characterize the microstructure of fiber-reinforced composite tubes manufactured by filament winding. Optical Microscopy was used for void characterization while Scanning Electron Microscopy was used for fiber and layer analysis. Acquired images were assembled in mosaics to reveal the microstructure of different cross-sections of the sample. Image processing was employed to detect either voids or individual fibers and measure their size, shape and spatial distribution. Void spatial distribution was analyzed with two different methods - local analysis and the tessellation method - revealing different behaviors along different cross-sections. Fiber layers were automatically detected and their average winding angle and dispersion were analyzed.
Composites; filament winding; voids; image analysis; digital microscopy
