Intimate Structure of High Modulus Carbon Fibres

Abstract

No evidence of transverse grain boundaries has been found in high modulus graphite fibres by high resolution phase contrast microscopy. Instead, the graphite planes have been found to flow over long distances in the direction of the fibre axis coalescing to graphite “crystallite” regions. The latter have the size and shape already suggested by X-ray diffraction techniques. The planes literally “flow” around intruding material, and evidence for elongated voids is occasionally found.