Variation of Mat Surface Density and Its Effect on Permeability Evaluation for RTM Modelling

Continuous fiber strands mats are often used in Resin Transfer Molding (RTM). This paper presents the results of an extensive experimental study where the varia tion of mat surface density was investigated on five commercially available mats. The in- plane permeability for all these mats was also measured and compared with models found in literature. Since none of these models gave a satisfactory prediction for all the mats, a new empirical model is proposed. This model, with a set of specific parameters for each mat, can easily be stored in the data bank of any RTM flow simulation software.