Gas transport model for chemical vapor infiltration

Abstract

A node-bond percolation model is presented for the gas permeability and pore surface area of the coarse porosity in woven fiber structures during densification by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI). Model parameters include the number of nodes per unit volume and their spatial distribution, and the node and bond radii and their variability. These parameters relate directly to structural features of the weave. Some uncertainty exists in the proper partition of the porosity between “node” and “bond” and between intra-tow and inter-tow, although the total is constrained by the known fiber loading in the structure. Applied to cloth layup preforms the model gives good agreement with the limited number of available measurements.