New set-up for in-plane permeability measurement

The determination of accurate permeability values is critical to process simulations for Resin Transfer Molding (RTM). New instrumentation is presented in this paper for high throughput permeability measurements. The design extends the original work of Hoes [Hoes K. Development of a new sensor-based set-up for experimental permeability identification of fibrous media, PhD thesis, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Brussels, 2003] with a new sensor design, a much larger sensor pattern, and new analysis software. For example, the new analysis software is more robust than previous versions in that it will compute the flow front orientation angle rather than assume the angle as given by the user. The new set-up was used to measure the permeability of a basalt woven 3/1 twill fabric. When compared with previous work on 2/2 twill and plain woven fabrics, a relationship was observed between the breadth of the anisotropy distribution, the correlation between the principle components of the permeability tensor, and the fabric structure. Such a relationship has implications for manufacturing reliability, and may help explain why some fabrics process much more consistently than others. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.