Numerical computation of the fiber preform permeability tensor by the homogenization method

This paper uses the homogenization method to formulate governing equations and boundary conditions to predict the permeability of anisotropic fibrous porous media. An approach is also put forth for addressing dual porosity media with this method. It is applicable to a wide range of porous materials, which may be considered with approximately periodic structure. The permeability components are calculated by solving a boundary value problem in a periodic cell. The application of the method is demonstrated on a periodic cell modeling the geometry of woven fiber performs used in composites manufacturing. The resulting equations are solved using CFD package FIDAP. The influence of dual porosity and nesting of adjacent fabric layers on the macro permeability was investigated and the results were compared with experiments.

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