Fibre-reinforced composites are attractive in manufacturing, particularly automotive and aerospace, due to being lightweight and have high specific stiffness and strength. To minimise machining processes they are typically near-net shape formed from large sheets which leads to fibre spread, impacting anisotropy and can lead to weak points or components that are not fit for purpose.
X-ray imaging (X-ray computed tomography, XCT) provides a way to non-destructively inspect internal materials and geometries that would otherwise be inaccessible. Imaging CFRP has a few challenges
- The high aspect ratio of plates and forms are ill-suited for standard acquisition protocols resulting in image artefacts
- Maintaining a high resolution locally is essential to sufficiently observe fibre orientation, but is frequently difficult due to the typical size of CFRP plates and products
This project will develop novel acquisition protocols to tackle both of these issues, using the TESCAN X-ray CT system here at Warwick, and whom is a partner in this project. It will require both programming new geometries in the system and applying existing reconstruction software to handle these geometries. No previous experience in X-ray imaging or image analysis is required, but the right candidate should be enthusiastic to learn both. As part of the project, you will also complete placements at TESCAN in Ghent, Belgium, to enhance your research.
The studentship is based in the CiMAT group at WMG, University of Warwick (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/about/facilities/cimat/) which is also a spoke of the National Research Facility in X-ray CT (https://nxct.ac.uk/). The team is interdisciplinary with a focus on measurement applied to a number of fields; from aerospace and energy, to forensics and museums. Largely you will work with established software packages and toolkits which you will receive training, but candidates are expected to demonstrate interest in coding with experience in MATLAB, Python or similar. The project is suitable for engineering, physics, computer science or mathematics graduates with computational skills.
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