In-plane permeability measurement and analysis in liquid composite molding

This work presents methods to measure and analyze in-plane permeabilities of various fabric reinforcements. The principal flow directions need to be determined first by conducting flow visualization. From the flow front pattern, the ratio of the permeabilities in the two principal directions can be determined. The pressure and the flow rate relationship from both radial and unidirectional flow measurement methods are then used to calculate the values of the permeabilities. By the use of the unidirectional flow measurement method, the edge flow effect can also be estimated.