The Theory of Fabric Porosity as Applied to Parachutes in Incompressible Flow

Abstract

SummaryMany aspects of parachute behaviour are dominated by the permeability of the canopy cloth. Techniques employing kinematic principles to predict parachute opening behaviour, for example, must first be able to predict the air flow through the canopy material. This paper is concerned with the development of such a predictive capability.The flow of air through cloth of gauze has been studied by many workers; since the 1850’s, in connection with filters; and since the early twenties, in connection with parachutes. Workers in each of these disciplines seemed unaware of the work being done in the other.In the case of parachute cloth permeability we find the foundations being laid down by such eminent workers as Glauert in 1932 and Taylor in 1944. Yet most subsequent writers seem not to be aware of this, and since World War II, there have been many papers “rediscovering” basic principles; often with errors which could have been corrected by reference to the earlier authorities.In this paper we attempt to bring together all the work which has been done in this field, and to rationalize the data by simple mathematical modelling. Individual elements of the model have been proposed before, of course.We then examine the effect of tension on the geometric porosity of fabric, and hence the pressure loss Ap. A theoretical analysis shows that tension is likely to be a major factor. For cloths which have low porosity when unloaded our simple mathematical model shows that, for a given Ap, a stress equal to 50% of ultimate can increase the air volume flow Q by an order of magnitude. In general, the increase in permeability is greatest at the lower values of Ap, indicating that the viscous term is more influenced by tension than the dynamic term. This theoretical result is confirmed by some rather limited experiments carried out by Lashbrook and Marby. But their data also shows that a cloth made from relatively stiff glass fibers can experience a reduction in permeability when loaded, due to a “closing up” of the weave. The reasons for this are discussed.