Using textile topography to analyze X‐ray CT data of composite microstructure

The 3‐dimensional yarn architecture in a 2‐dimensional woven fabric reinforced composite is nonuniform. Many structural features appear that are not obvious from consideration only of the yarn architecture in the single layer textile fabric. A complete set of 3‐dimensional image data was acquired for a representative volume of the composite using X‐ray micro‐computed tomography. Extensive image analysis was, however, necessary to reveal the yarn architecture due to relatively low signal‐to‐noise ratio and contrast levels relative to optical microscopy of polished cross sections.