Development and Validation of Algorithms for the Three- Dimensional Analysis of Polymeric Materials

Abstract

Polymeric foams are produced by dispersing a gas within a polymer matrix, resulting in materials with superior insulating and energy absorbing performance. Where possible, foams are preferred over compact materials, because resulting parts exhibit lower weight and lower material costs. Composites are another branch of polymer modification possibilities. They are obtained by incorporating fillers into the polymer, improving the material stiffness and toughness and also reducing costs. There is a strong correlation between microstructure of the polymeric materials and their mechanical macro properties. Parameters like the cell size of polymeric foams and pari:icle dispersion of composites are of main influence on the material behavior. In this project, a high resolution micro computed X-ray device is used to acquire information about the polymeric materials' internal structure in a non-destructive way. The steps from the acquisition of images to the feature extraction are exposed, showing the image processing procedures used for three different kinds of polymeric materials: closed-cell foams, open-cell foams and nanocomposites. Techniques are developed and optimised algorithms are implemented to deal with the large amount of memory required and the long time needed to process huge amounts of data generated by high resolution X-ray scans. In the end, the used techniques are validated. Results of experiments with specimens of foams and nanocomposites are shown. The use of the optimised algorithms combined with the application of image processing techniques led to a complete analysis of three-dimensional data using standard hardware in reasonable time.