Fibre orientation distribution in polyamide 6 has been analyzed in small injection moulded
notched plates by applying an experimental method based on tomographic reconstructions
obtained using synchrotron light. Two different fibre configurations for the same plate
geometry were obtained by varying the position and the shape of the injection gate. The mean
fibre orientation angle was measured in the gauge section of the plates by using the Mean
Intercept Length parameter. By means of a commercial finite element software, injection
moulding was simulated and fibre orientation angles were calculated. These values were
compared with those obtained experimentally, and it is shown that a good agreement can be
obtained, provided that a fine mesh is adopted in the numerical model.
