Measurement of Transverse Permeability of Fabric Preforms Using Ultrasound Monitoring Technique in LCM Processes

Abstract

Processes of the Liquid Composite Molding (LCM) are widely used in composites produced by impregnation of a dry preform with liquid resin. The resin flow through the preform is usually described by Darcy’s law and the permeability tensor must be obtained for filling process analysis and characterizing the ability of a porous material to be impregnated by a resin fluid. In generally, resin flow in the thickness direction can be neglected for thin parts, but the resin flow in the transverse direction is important for thicker parts. In this study, the transverse permeability measurement device using ultrasound method was developed, the transverse flowfront could be calculated, and global effective permeability and transverse were studied.