The 3D Chemical Distribution of a Flame Retardant in a Fiberglass-Reinforced Polymer Blend as Measured with Synchrotron X-ray Tomography

摘要

A fiberglass-reinforced polymer blend with a new-generation flame retardant is studied with multi-energy synchrotron X-ray tomography to assess the blend homogeneity. Relative to other composite materials, this sample is difficult to image due to low contrast between fiberglass and the polymer blend. To investigate the chemical composition of this polymer blend, new procedures and algorithms were developed to produce, segment and analyze a chemical concentration distribution that assesses the flame retardant distribution throughout the blend. The results show an extremely homogenous system to the level of the tomography resolution, 3.26 μm. The processes and algorithms used herein include: (a) correction of reconstructed subvolumes absorption values, (b) model for chemical distribution, including the fiberglass matrix, (c) model for chemical distribution, excluding the fiberglass matrix, and (d) an algorithm for generating the radial concentration distribution about the glass fibers in the polymer matrix.