Controlling preferentially oriented fibers in short-fiber reinforced composites is of great interest in determining various properties of the materials. This paper presents a new technique, the magnetic anisotropy measurement, which can effectively determine the fiber orientation in short-fiber reinforced composites. Theoretical magnetic torque curves are calculated for the composites with several different fiber distributions. The results are compared with those in prior work; the orientation descriptor obtained from the magnetic anisotropy measurement is mathematically equivalent to the well-known Hermans’ orientation parameter.
1. Pipes, R.B., McCullough, R.L. and Taggart, D.G. (1982). Behavior of discontinuous fiber composites: fiber orientation. Polym. Compos., 3(1): 34–39.
2.
2. Wetherhold, R.C. and Scott, P.D. (1990). Prediction of thermoelastic properties in short-fiber composites using image analysis technique. Compos. Sci. Tech., 37: 393–410.
3.
3. Hull, D. and Clyne, T.W. (1996). An Introduction to Composite Materials. 2nd edn.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4.
4. McGee, S.H. and McCullough, R.L. (1984). Characterization of fiber orientation in short-fiber composites. J. Appl. Phys., 55(5): 1394–1403.
5.
5. Gonzalez, L.M., Cumbrera, F.L., Sanchez-Bajo, F. and Pajares, A. (1994). Measurement of fiber orientation in short-fiber composites. Acta Metall. Mater., 42(3): 689–694.
6.
6. McGrath, J.J. and Wille, J.M. (1995). Determination of 3D fiber orientation distribution in thermoplastic injection molding. Comp. Sci. Tech., 53(2): 133–143.
7.
7. Clarke, A.R., Archenhold, G. and Davidson, N.C. (1995). A novel technique for determining the 3D spatial distribution of grass fibres in polymer composite. Comp. Sci. Tech., 55(1): 75–91.
8.
8. Zhu, Y.T., Blumenthal, W.R. and Lowe, T.C. (1997). Determination of non-symmetric 3-D fiber-orientation distribution and average fiber length in short-fiber composites. J. Comp. Mater., 31(3): 1287–1301.
9.
9. Mlekusch, B. (1999). Fibre orientation in short-fibre-reinforced thermoplastics II. Quantitative measurements by image analysis. Comp. Sci. Tech., 59(4): 547–560.
10.
10. Watanabe, Y., Nozaki, H., Kato, M. and Sato, A. (1991). Formation of Fe16N2 and development of magnetic anisotropy in a Fe-N alloy. Acta Metall. Mater., 39(12): 3161–3166.
11.
11. Fujii, T., Watanabe, Y., Enami, T., Sato, A. and Kato, M. (1992). Magnetic anisotropy caused by the formation of stress-induced martensite in small iron particles in a copper matrix. ISIJ International, 32(9): 1027–1033.
12.
12. Fujii, T., Kusaka, K. and Kato, M. (1995). Effects of magnetic field on the growth of-Fe particles in a single crystal Cu matrix. Testu-to-Hagane, 81(6): 696–701.
13.
13. Bozorth, R.M. (1951). Ferromagnetism. New York: D. Van Nostrand Co.
14.
14. Cullity, B.D. (1998). Introduction to Magnetic Materials. Stanford: Stanford Bookstore.
15.
15. Hermans, P.H. (1946). Contributions to the Physics of Cellulose Fiber. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
16.
16. Suresh, S. and Mortensen, A. (1998). Fundamentals of Functionally Graded Materials, Processing and Thermomechanical Behaviour of Graded Materials and Metal-Ceramic Composites. London: IOM Communications Ltd.
17.
17. Eryu, H. and Watanabe, Y. (1999). Three dimensional observation of Al3Ti platelets in Al-Al3Ti FGMs fabricated by centrifugal method. Mater. Sci. Forum, 308–311: 199–204.
18.
18. Watanabe, Y., Eryu, H. and Matsuura, K. (2001). Evaluation of three-dimensional orientation of Al3Ti platelet in Al based FGMs fabricated by a centrifugal casting technique. Acta Mater., 49(#): 49(5): 775–783.
