Numerical Prediction of Permeability Tensor for Three Dimensional Circular Braided Preform by considering Intra-tow Flow

Abstract

Resin transfer moulding is characterized by the permeability tensor, which is a measure of the resistance to resin flow through the preform. Complete prediction of the second order permeability tensor for three dimensional circular braided preforms is critical to an understanding of the resin transfer moulding process. The permeability can be predicted by considering resin flow through the multi-axial fibre structure. In this study, the permeability tensor for a 3-D circular braided preform was calculated by solving a boundary problem of a periodic unit cell. The flow field through the unit cell was obtained by using a 3-D control volume finite element method (CVFEM) and Darcy's law was utilized to obtain the permeability tensor. The flow analyses were carried out for two cases, one in which the fibre tow was regarded as a permeable porous medium, and one in which it was regarded as an impermeable solid. It was found that the flow within the intra-tow region of the braided preform was negligible if the inter-tow porosity was relatively high, but flow through the tow, especially flow in the thickness direction must be considered when the porosity is low. The permeability of the braided preform was measured by a radial flow experiment and compared with the predicted permeability.