The Measurement Of In-plane Permeability For Sheared Preforms

Abstract

Computer simulations of composites manufacturing processes such as liquid moulding require accurate permeability data. Increasingly sophisticated models have been proposed for the prediction of the permeability of fibrous reinforcements; however these analytical tools are not yet able to account for the actual structure of the preforms. Parameters such as the textile structure or the level of imposed deformation in compaction and shear are known to modify the principal permeability values, as well as the orientation of the in- plane permeability tensor. If such parameters are to be considered within the simulations, their effects must be known with a level of accuracy that allows them to be separated from the natural variability ob