Effect of 3D fiber orientation distribution on particle capture efficiency of anisotropic fiber networks

This work examines airborne particle capture by 3D anisotropic fiber networks. A series of virtual 3D anisotropic fiber networks was generated by varying the frequency of fibers oriented along the perpendicular plane of the networks. The Lagrangian formulation of particle transport was studied to obtain the capture efficiency of particles ranging from as low as 0.3 mu m diameter to as high as 5.0 mu m diameter. It was observed that the particle capture efficiency was decreased with the increase in frequency of fibers oriented along the perpendicular plane of the network. This effect was found to be remarkably higher with larger particles as compared to smaller particles. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.