Through-thickness permeability study of orthogonal and angle-interlock woven fabrics

Xiao, Xueliang; Endruweit, Andreas; Zeng, Xuesen; Hu, Jinlian; Long, Andrew C.

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) woven textiles, including orthogonal and angle-interlock woven fabrics, exhibit high inter-laminar strength in addition to good in-plane mechanical properties and are particularly suitable for lightweight structural applications. Resin transfer moulding (RTM) is a cost-effective manufacturing process for composites with 3D-woven reinforcement. With increasing preform thickness, the influence of through-thickness permeability on RTM processing of composites becomes increasingly significant. This study proposes an analytical model for prediction of the through-thickness permeability, based on Poiseuille’s law for hydraulic ducts approximating realistic flow channel geometries in woven fabrics. The model is applied to four 3D-woven fabrics and three 2D-woven fabrics. The geometrical parameters of the fabrics were characterized by employing optical microscopy. For validation, the through-thickness permeability was determined experimentally. The equivalent permeability of inter-yarn gaps was found to account for approximately 90 % of the through-thickness permeability for the analysed fabrics. The analytical predictions agree well with the experimental data of the seven fabrics.

Citation

Xiao, X., Endruweit, A., Zeng, X., Hu, J., & Long, A. C. (2015). Through-thickness permeability study of orthogonal and angle-interlock woven fabrics. Journal of Materials Science, 50(3), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8683-4

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 24, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Nov 1, 2014
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Oct 10, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 10, 2016
• Journal: Journal of Materials Science
• Print ISSN: 0022-2461
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-4803
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 3
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8683-4
• Keywords: 3D-woven fabric, through-thickness permeability, analytical model
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/741969
• Publisher URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10853-014-8683-4?view=classic
• Additional Information: The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8683-4.