Composites Characterisation
At CERAM, we have the capability to characterise materials in three dimensions for chemical composition, morphological microstructure and topographical profile. These skills have been applied to the analysis of composite materials in the following areas:
Coating Adhesion
Interfacial adhesion is critically dependent on surface roughness for keying. This can be measure and statistically quantified for specification and control purposes by 3D profilometry with nanometre precision.
Contamination
Contaminants are a common cause of failure in engineered systems. Surface analysis can chemically identify contaminants, quantify them at ppb levels, and spatially resolve their distribution by chemical species mapping.
Fibre Oxidation
Carbon is susceptible to various forms of degradation including hydrolytic oxidation. Chemical mapping can be used to show where degradation has occured and to what extent.
Fibre-Resin Disbondment
The use of fibre size can be reverse engineered by surface analysis - see ‘contamination’ above - and voids in structures can be picked up by electron microscopy.
Coating Diagnosis
Composite parts are often painted and these can be multilayer systems. Cross-sectional chemical mapping can be used to distinguish the layers and any inter-layer encroachment.