Progress in experimental and theoretical evaluation methods for textile permeability

A great amount of attention has been given to the evaluation of the permeability tensor and several methods have been implemented for this purpose: experimental methods, as well as numerical and analytical methods. Numerical simulation tools are being seriously developed to cover the evaluation of permeability. However, the results are still far from matching reality. On the other hand, many problems still intervene in the experimental measurement of permeability, since it depends on several parameters including personal performance, preparation of specimens, equipment accuracy, and measurement techniques. Errors encountered in these parameters may explain why inconsistent measurements are obtained which result in unreliable experimental evaluation of permeability. However, good progress was done in the second international Benchmark, wherein a method to measure the in-plane permeability was agreed on by 12 institutes and universities. Critical researchers’ work was done in the field of analytical methods, and thus different empirical and analytical models have emerged, but most of those models need to be improved. Some of which are based on Cozeny-Karman equation. Others depend on numerical simulation or experiment to predict the macroscopic permeability. Also, the modeling of permeability of unidirectional fiber beds have taken the greater load of concern, whereas that of fiber bundle permeability prediction remain limited. This paper presents a review on available methods for evaluating unidirectional fiber bundles and engineering fabric permeability. The progress of each method is shown in order to clear things up.