Fibrous random materials: From microstructure to macroscopic properties

Abstract

Fibrous porous materials are involved in a wide range of applications including composite materials, fuel cells, heat exchangers and (biological)filters. Fluid flow through these materials plays an important role in many engineering applications and processes, such as textiles and paper manufacturing or transport of (under)ground water and pollutants. While most porous materials have complex geometry, some can be seen as two-dimensional particulate/fibrous systems, in which we introduce several microscopic quantities, based on Voronoi and Delaunay tessellations, to characterize their microstructure. In particular, by analyzing the topological properties of Voronoi polygons, we observe a smooth transition from disorder to order, for increasing packing fraction. Using fully resolved finite element (FE) simulations of Newtonian, incompressible fluid flow perpendicular to the fibres, the macroscopic permeability is calculated in creeping flow regimes. The effect of fibre arrangement and local crystalline regions on the macroscopic permeability is discussed and the macroscopic property is linked to the microscopic structural quantities. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.