Investigation of the Internal Structure of Fiber Reinforced Geopolymer Composite under Mechanical Impact: A Micro Computed Tomography (µCT) Study
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Date
2019-02-02
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Abstract
The internal structure of fiber reinforced geopolymer composite was investigated by
microfocus X-ray computed tomography (µCT) under mechanical impact. µCT is a non-destructive,
multi approach technique for assessing the internal structures of the impacted composites without
compromising their integrity. The three dimensional (3D) representation was used to assess the
impact damage of geopolymer composites reinforced with carbon, E-glass, and basalt fibers. The 3D
representations of the damaged area with the visualization of the fiber rupture slices are presented in
this article. The fiber pulls out, and rupture and matrix damage, which could clearly be observed,
was studied on the impacted composites by examining slices of the damaged area from the center of
the damage towards the edge of the composite. Quantitative analysis of the damaged area revealed
that carbon fabric reinforced composites were much less affected by the impact than the E-glass and
basalt reinforced composites. The penetration was clearly observed for the basalt based composites,
confirming µCT as a useful technique for examining the different failure mechanisms for geopolymer
composites. The durability of the carbon fiber reinforced composite showed better residual strength
in comparison with the E-glass fiber one.
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Subject(s)
polymer composites, geopolymer, fiber, mechanical impact, micro-computed tomography, µCT