Radiative Properties of Dense Fibrous Medium Containing Fibers in the Geometric Limit

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the dependent regime in dense fibrous materials with size parameters ranging in the geometric optics limit. We use a method based on a Monte Carlo procedure which permits one to identify the radiative properties of dispersed media. This method is applied to materials made of opaque or semitransparent randomly oriented long circular cylinders representing the fibers. The results permit us to investigate the limit of validity of independent scattering hypothesis and to analyze the evolution of the extinction coefficient, scattering albedo and phase function of the fibrous material with the porosity and the reflecting properties of the particles when the shadowing effect due to geometric sized objects is not negligible. We also propose a correlation to estimate the radiative properties in dependent regime from the results of the independent scattering hypothesis. Thereafter, the radiative characteristics obtained are compared to those predicted by previous authors.