Analysis of Fluid Flow Through Fibrous Structures

A two-dimensional Ising's model is used to study in-plane fluid flow through fibrous structures under pressure, a situation that is both general and more complicated than what is observed in the phenomenon of wicking in fibrous structures. The pressure drop between an inlet and the flow front is expressed in such mechanical energy terms as friction loss during flow, and thus the influence of pressure can be added to the total energy of the system derived from the fluid and the fibrous structure. A coefficient a is introduced and determined experimentally to denote the frictional effect of fibrous structures in the fluid flow path. A set of experiments illustrates fluid flow through a group of isotropic PET fiber mats with different fiber volume fractions and different influxes. Both experiments and simulation are in good agreement and show that the velocity of the fluid tends to decrease with the increased fiber volume fraction.