Investigation of a simple tensorial permeameter

Abstract A device to measure permeability tensors of aligned circular cylinder arrays was designed and tested. Experiments were performed on arrays having solid volume fractions ranging from 0.3 to 0.7, inclusive. Array structures had 60° (hexagonal), 70°, and 90° (square) angles of symmetry. Results for transverse flow across the cylinder arrays were in strong agreement with numerical predictions. Transverse permeability values were also shown to obey tensor transformation rules. Longitudinal test results indicated that transverse flow was present during the experiments, lowering measured permeability values. The influence of longitudinal permeability on the overall tensor was shown to be substantially larger than variations in the transverse permeability values. POLYM. COMPOS., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers