Carbon fiber composites reflected light micrographs

Fig. 4.3 Reflected light micrographs of polished composite specimens show the carbon fibers (white) and their orientation within the polymer matrix. Black regions are voids. In (A) various layers are oriented normal to one another while in (B) two uniaxially fiber tows are shown.

Fig. 5.66 Reflected light micrograph of polished carbon fiber composites are shown fibers are white, voids (holes) are black, and the resin is gray in color due to surface reflectivity. A section of a graphite fiber reinforced composite (A) shows a complex arrangement of fibers with uniform wetting and packing. Single ply carbon fiber panels (B) embedded in epoxy and polished are uniformly packed. Higher magnification micrographs show detail is possible by this technique for fibers oriented parallel (C) and perpendicular (D) to the polished surface.

---