A radial infusion model for transverse permeability measurements of fiber reinforcement in composite materials

Abstract The goal of this article was to develop a method for simultaneously determining the principal values of an unsaturated permeability tensor for fibrous reinforcements which accounts for finite dimension of the inlet gate, when its diameter is comparable or larger than thickness of a fabric preform. An analytic solution for the direct problem of liquid spreading in a transversely orthotropic fabric preform is derived and analyzed. This solution is compared with a point source approximate solution used by other authors. Algorithms for evaluating the principal components of transverse and equivalent in‐plane permeability are proposed. POLYM. COMPOS., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers