Composites: Part A 141 (2021) 106203

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Composites Part A
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compositesa

Concurrent characterization of through-thickness permeability and

compaction of fiber reinforcements
M.A Kabachi *, L. Stettler , S. Arreguin , P. Ermanni
Laboratory of Composite Materials and Adaptive Structures, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Flow-induced fiber-bed compaction has considerable effects on through-thickness permeability due to resulting
Through-thickness permeability changes in fiber-volume-fractions. This study introduces a novel method for the simultaneous characterization of
Fiber-bed compaction compaction and unsaturated out-of-plane permeability of engineering textiles in one single experiment. The
Unsaturated permeability
measurement technique relies on visually tracking flow-front positions and compaction during through-thickness
impregnation using a camera and a rigid tool equipped with a pressure sensor and a transparent window. This
strategy allows flow-induced fiber-bed compaction to be considered in unsaturated permeability measurements,
providing permeability at different fiber-volume-fractions, whilst also providing dry and wet compaction curves.
This new measurement tool also readily verifies any race-tracking that may occur during impregnation, which
drastically influences flow behavior. The method is successfully validated through testing of glass fiber NCF and
woven fabrics, where permeability results are compared to analytical solutions, while compaction results are
compared to those obtained from a universal testing machine.

1. Introduction
Economical manufacturing routes for fiber-reinforced composites
such as compression-RTM [1] rely on through-thickness impregnation
strategies. The liquid resin is injected at high pressures into a dry fabric,
which may induce hydrodynamic compaction depending on the injec­
tion pressure and the fiber-bed compressibility [2,3]. The impregnation
behavior and the fiber volume content of the manufactured part are
governed by two essential parameters: through-thickness permeability
(K3) and compressibility (dry and wet). Common approaches to char­
acterize the compressibility of fibrous reinforcements are displacement
controlled compaction tests [4–6]. The method is applicable to dry or
fully saturated textiles, where the specimens are either immersed in a
bath of the test fluid upon compaction [4,7] or wetted beforehand and
then compressed [5,6]. A considerable difference exists between dry and
wet compressibility of fibrous reinforcements [4–6], where, saturated
fiber-beds are more compliant due to lubrication. This facilitates the
movement of fibers and bundles during the compaction making the
tested specimen more compressible. Thus, the magnitude of this differ­
ence is reduced for reinforcements with strong fiber fixation.
Compressibility can be quantified by utilizing compaction curves that
depict the pressure required to compact a fiber-bed to a certain fiber
volume fraction (Vf). These curves can generally be modeled with a
power law [8,9] or an exponential function [10,11] as follows (where σ
is the applied pressure, A and B are fitting parameters):
( )
σ Vf = A∙exp(B∙Vf ) (1)
The experimental characterization of unsaturated through-thickness
permeability (K3unsat) is typically carried out by injecting a test fluid in
the through-thickness direction. The K3 unsat is then calculated using
Darcy’s law which relates the fluid velocity (v) to the pressure gradient
(∇p) through the fluid viscosity (μ), Vf and K3unsat as follows:
K3unsat
v= − ∙∇p (2)
μ∙(1 − Vf )
Trevino et al. [12] used a universal testing machine to inject a non-
reactive fluid (DOP oil) into a fiber-bed in through-thickness direction at
a constant flow rate, and calculated K3unsat using Darcy’s law. Wu et al.
[13] calculated K3unsat using the same method after improving the
previous measurement setup. A central injection was performed from
the bottom of the cell, and distribution media were added every two
layers of fiber reinforcement to ensure a 1D flow. In addition, the paper
introduced a new method that combines a 3D flow experiment and
numerical simulation. It requires the prior knowledge of the in-plane

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mkabachi@ethz.ch (M.A Kabachi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2020.106203
Received 12 June 2020; Received in revised form 5 October 2020; Accepted 14 November 2020
Available online 3 December 2020
1359-835X/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
M.A Kabachi et al. Composites Part A 141 (2021) 106203

permeabilities K1 and K2 and compares the simulated and the measured
inlet pressures to back-calculate K3unsat. Later researches used different
methods to track the flow front position and calculate K3unsat using
Darcy’s law and applying one of the two following boundary conditions
depending on the injection strategy:
• Constant injection pressure: the difference between the inlet pressure
Pin and the pressure at the flow front Pf is constant, resulting in a drop
in flow front velocity and a permeability dependent on Vf as
following:
(1 − Vf )∙μ∙zff 2
K3unsat = ( ) (3)
2 Pin − Pf ∙t
• Constant flow rate injection Q: the flow front velocity is constant,
resulting in an increase in inlet pressure over time, and the perme­
ability is calculated as follows (A being the specimen cross-section):
K3unsat = (
μ∙Q∙zff (t)
) (4)
Pin − Pf ∙A
The tracking of the flow front position zff(t) is essential for unsatu­
rated permeability characterization. Some techniques rely on material-
embedded sensors, such as optical fibers or thermistors [8,14]. The
presence of such sensors inside the fiber-bed creates distortions in the
textile’s architecture affecting flow and permeability, thus spatially
limiting the number of measurement points depending on the number of
sensors [9]. A later non-destructive method uses ultrasound (US) tech­
nology [15–18], where US sensors emit and receive sound waves
through the fiber-bed in the flow direction during impregnation. Then,
zff(t) is calculated considering the difference in the time of flight (ToF)
between a dry and a wet fabric, which is defined as the time needed for
an emitted sound wave to travel from the emitter to the receptor in a
specific medium. This method allows continuous zff(t) monitoring, but
due to signal attenuation, it is limited to measuring only a narrow range
of thicknesses and Vf (above 50%). This limited measuring window can
be extended to Vf up to 45% by using signal amplifiers [17], which
further complicates the measurement cell since it is very sensitive to
noise.
For Darcy’s law to be used, the permeability and porosity should be
constant, thus K3unsat characterization methods based on through-
thickness injection should be performed at low injection pressures to
avoid hydrodynamic induced compaction [13]. This effect was observed
in [12] during a center-gate 3D injection experiment in a mold with a
transparent acrylic window, where local compaction around the injec­
tion gate was noticed. The influence of such deformation on saturated
through-thickness permeability (K3sat) was quantified in [19] using a
cylindrical transparent tool and infusing a saturated fiber-bed at
increasing injection pressures. A decrease of K3sat, due to an increase in
Vf, was reported as a result of the induced hydrodynamic compaction.
Scholz et al. [20] introduced a continuous method to measure saturated
K3sat by injecting a test fluid into a saturated fiber-bed placed in a cy­
lindrical steel tool mounted on a hydraulic testing machine. The mold
cavity thickness was changed via the testing machine crosshead during
the impregnation providing K3sat at different Vf in a single experiment.
A comparison between the continuous K3sat results and the values ob­
tained via discrete methods was addressed in [21] via a slightly modified
setup that uses a universal testing machine to continuously change the
thickness. The difference between the two results is influenced by the
compression speed in the continuous method, it is highly reduced at a
low flow rate and low compression speed [22]. The combination of the
parallel but oppositely directed loads on a fiber-bed is modeled in [23]
and could be applied for the Resin Film Infusion process to approximate
the permeability variations during the infusion since the K3unsat is also
needed. A K3unsat characterization method that allows for simultaneous
tracking of flow front position and total compaction based on US sensors
and linear variable differential transformers (LVDT) was developed in
[18]. It permits for a continuous K3unsat characterization and considers
hydrodynamic compaction but it is limited by the narrow range of Vf
and thicknesses that US sensors can cover.
New measuring techniques are needed to thoroughly characterize
K3unsat for the complete range of Vf and a wider span of thicknesses, and
fiber architectures (random mat with typically Vf < 40%). The present
study is filling this gap by introducing a novel method to characterize
unsaturated K3unsat considering hydrodynamic compaction. The method
also allows for simultaneous compaction characterization within the
same test, using an improved version of the saturated K3unsat measure­
ment setup presented in [2,4]. The novel configuration utilizes a PMMA
tube in the sample area that permits visual tracking of zff(t) with a
camera; a well-known technique in the field of unsaturated in-plane
measurements [24–27]. The same optical principle is used to track the
compaction, which is associated with a pressure sensor allowing for the
definition of dry and wet compaction curves and to assess the quality of
the experiment via visualization of any race-tracking that may occur
during the injection.
2. Methods
2.1. Experimental setup
The setup consists of a measurement cell, an injection pump, and a

Fig. 1. Concurrent through-thickness permeability and compaction characterization setup.

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M.A Kabachi et al. Composites Part A 141 (2021) 106203

video camera as illustrated in Fig. 1. The measurement cell comprises a

transparent Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA) tube of 123 mm inner
diameter and a wall thickness of 5 mm where the textiles are sandwiched
between two perforated steel plates of 12 mm thickness. The distance
between these plates defines the cavity height (14 mm), which is set
through the height of the PMMA tube. Each plate consists of 95 holes of
8 mm diameter distributed in a hexagonal configuration to ensure low
resistance to fluid flow and even pressure distribution during the in­
jection. The two plates are fitted to the lower and the upper fluid dis­
tribution chambers containing an inlet, outlet and pressure sensor (from
HUBA Type 680.806120105 N) at the bottom. This sensor measures the
inlet pressure Pin(t), which corresponds to the total stress applied to the
fiber bed during impregnation, and is connected to a computer running a
LabView program for the data collection. A video camera (Sony α3 with
90 mm macro lens) is faced towards the PMMA tube to track flow fronts
during impregnation (for K3unsat), as well as the fiber-bed compaction
resulting from hydrodynamic pressure.

2.2. Sample preparation

It is essential to use round samples free of frayed edges to achieve a

tight fit with the PMMA tube’s inner diameter to avoid race-tracking as
shown in [28]. The textiles are precut into squares of 140x140 mm2
using a computer numerically controlled (CNC) textile cutting machine
(Zünd 1600). These square plies are then manually laid up in the same
fiber direction and the same side facing upwards for circular shaping
with a universal testing machine (Zwick). A cylindrical hardened steel
blade is pressed on top of the precut and piled squares to produce cir­
cular stacks of 123 mm diameter, as presented in Fig. 2. In order to avoid
bending of the edges due to the pressure applied by the blade only 10
precut square plies are cut at a time. This procedure allows clean-cut
round samples and avoids losing fibers or bundles when handling sin­
gle layers that can lead to frayed edges. The edges of the first layer are
painted using a color paste to facilitate the visual tracking of the fiber-
bed compaction. Other layers could also be traced to measure any
non-uniform compaction that may occur during impregnation. The Fig. 3. Through-thickness flow, using colored silicon oil, where race tracing
fiber-bed stack is then carefully placed in the measurement cell one or causes peripheral flow around the fiber-bed.
two layers at a time to avoid their bending against the walls assuring a
tight fit.

2.3. Race tracking

Improper sample cutting or inadequate positioning of the layers in

the measurement cell (bending against the cell wall) creates flow
channels between the PMMA wall and the fiber-bed. These channels lead
to an inconsistent flow front and improper impregnation (Fig. 3) and is a

Fig. 4. Inlet pressure development during a through-thickness impregnation of

a woven fabric specimen with Vf0 = 0.40 at a constant flow rate Q = 1.5cm3 /s.

common issue in both in-plane and through-thickness impregnations.

The presented procedure allows for easy detection of even small flow
channels and provides a first qualitative assessment of experiment
validity.
Fig. 2. The hardened steel blade used to cut the samples of 123 mm diameter.

3
M.A Kabachi et al.
Fig. 5. Illustration of two video frames used for extracting the flow front progression zff(t) and the fiber-bed compaction e(t) during through-thickness impregnation,
with a: before impregnation, b: during impregnation.
2.4. Procedure and data analysis
Injection starts from the bottom at a constant flow rate and stops
when the flow front has reached the upper perforated plate, while a
camera takes a video of the process. The pressure profile over time
(Fig. 4) shows two distinct segments. The red-framed segment is char­
acterized by a nonlinear pressure evolution that can be explained by the
combination of flow in unsaturated porous media, and hydrodynamic
induced compaction. This segment starts as soon as the test fluid reaches
the bottom of the first layer, and ends when the flow front reaches the
top. The red-framed segment is used to determine the K3unsat and the
compaction curve. The blue framed segment corresponds to a saturated
flow, it starts when full impregnation is achieved.
The data analysis includes the conversion of the recorded video into
single frames, wherein each frame shows flow front position zff(t),
sample thickness e(t) at a time t, and the deformation Δe as illustrated in
Fig. 5. These variables are measured using an image analysis Matlab
code based on image segmentation and are used along with the corre­
sponding pressure Pin(t) (red dots in Fig. 4) to calculate permeability
and compaction curves.
2.4.1. Compaction curves calculation
To determine compaction curves σ (Vf) the procedure utilizes the
exponential model (Eq. (1)), where the constants A and B are calculated
using two pressure points P(t) (Fig. 4) and the two corresponding
thicknesses e(t) (Fig. 5) following Eq. (5):
P1 ln(P1 /P2 )
A= , B=
exp(B⋅Vf1 ) Vf2 − Vf1
P1 and P2 are the measured pressures (red dots Fig. 4), Vf1 and Vf2 are
calculated considering the thicknesses e(t), the areal weight per layer
Aw , the number of layers N and the fiber density ρf following Eq. (6):
Aw ∙N
Vf =
ρf ∙e(t)
Since the compaction characterization takes place during impreg­
nation (red segment in Fig. 4), the resulting compaction curve σαm (Vf)
describes an intermediate state between completely dry σ d (Vf) and fully
saturated σw (Vf) states. In consequence, this curve is bounded by the
aforementioned curves, as shown in Fig. 6. σαm (Vf) is highly dependent
on the choice of the two measurement points P1 and P2 taken at two
different saturation ratios α1 and α2, defined as the ratio between lengths
of the wet and the dry regions at a timet:
zff (t)
α(t) =
e(t)
The resulting curve σ αm (Vf ) describes a state with an average satu­
ration ratio αm between α1 and α2. This curve will be closer to the dry
state if the two measurement points are taken at the beginning of the
impregnation (red points 1 and 2 in Fig. 4), and closer to the wet state if
the two points are taken towards the end (red points 3 and 4 in Fig. 4).
This study assumes therefore that σ αm (Vf) obeys the rule of mixture
Composites Part A 141 (2021) 106203
Fig. 6. Resulting compaction curve (in black) form flow experiment delimited
by dry and wet compaction curves in blue and red respectively.
following Eq. (8):
σ αm (Vf ) = (1 − αm )∙σ d (Vf ) + αm ∙σ w (Vf ) (8)
By considering two compaction curves σαm1 (Vf) and σ αm2 (Vf) at two
different average impregnation ratios αm1 and αm2, one can deduce dry
and wet compaction curves σ d* (Vf ) and σw* (Vf) respectively following
(5)
Eq. (9):
αm1 ⋅σαm2 − αm2 ⋅σαm1
σd* =
σ = (1 − αm1 )⋅σd* + αm1 ⋅σw* αm1 (1 − αm2 ) − αm2 (1 − αm1 )
{ αm1
σαm2 = (1 − αm2 )⋅σ d* + αm2 ⋅σ w*
⇒{
σαm1 − σd* ⋅(1 − αm1 )
σ w* =
αm1
(6)
(9)
2.4.2. Unsaturated through-thickness permeability calculation
The unsaturated through-thickness permeability is calculated based
on Darcy’s law considering a 1D impregnation at a constant flow-rate
following Eq. (4), where, zff(t) the averaged flow front position at a
time t considering the compaction as shown in Fig. 5, and Pin(t) is the
inlet pressure obtained from the pressure sensor. It is assumed in this
method that the averaged recorded zff(t) around the sample is repre­
sentative of the flow inside because race-tracking is eliminated. This
method can consider a high number of measurement points (n) for zff(t)
(7) and et e(t), depending on how fast the impregnation occurs, and the
number of frames per second the camera can take. Therefore, each
experiment results in n permeability points at n values of Vf since the
compaction is considered in the measurement of zff(t).
The compaction in the wet part is not homogenously distributed
along with the thickness, as shown in the literature [2,29], resulting in a
gradient of Vf leading to a gradient of K3unsat. Consequently, the
permeability calculated for each measurement point n represents the
4
M.A Kabachi et al.
equivalent permeability of the impregnated stack. This is similar to the
equivalent in-plane permeability derived in [30] for a fiber-bed showing
a varying local permeability along the flow direction.
3. Experimental
3.1. Materials
Two different textiles are utilized in this work: a twill 2/2 glass fiber
woven fabric (Hexcel 1202) with an areal weight of 290 g/m2 and a
biaxial ± 45◦ glass fiber non-crimp fabric (NCF) (Saertex X-E-444) with
an areal weight of 444 g/m2. The test fluid used is a low viscosity sili­
cone oil (XIAMETER® PMX-200, µ = 100 mPa.s at 20 ◦ C), to ensure
constant viscosity throughout the test. A coloring paste for silicone
(NEUKASIL SN Color Pastes provided by Altropol) is introduced to the
oil in a ratio of 20 g/l to readily distinguish oil flow inside the fabrics.
3.2. Test conditions
The experiments are performed on three initial Vf0, {0.40, 0.43,
0.45} for the woven and {0.40, 0.43, 0.47} for the NCF, and conducted
on three different samples per Vf0 for both fabrics. The measurements
are carried out at a constant flow rate of 1.5cm3 /s, which is set through
the injection pump. A cavity height of 14 mm was kept constant and the
number of layers was changed to achieve the target Vf0. The video
analysis considers 5 measurement points per experiment (5 frames)
taken 10 s after the start of impregnation with a time-step of 10 s. Since
the hydrodynamic compaction is considered, every single experiment
results in 5 different K3unsat at 5 different Vf.
The compaction results are validated using the deduced compaction
Fig. 7. Video frames of impregnation of an NCF textile with an initial Vf0 of 0.4 at a constant flow rate of 1.5 cm3 /s at four times (0 s, 10 s, 20 s and 30 s)
demonstrating compaction and flow front progression.
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Composites Part A 141 (2021) 106203
curves σd* (Vf) and σ w* (Vf) and are compared to dry and wet compaction
curves, σd (Vf) and σ w (Vf) that are obtained from a conventional
compaction test with Zwick Materialprüfung 1474 universal material
testing machine as described in [4]. σ αm (Vf) is compared to a reference
compaction curve σref (Vf) calculated following Eq. (8) using the same
saturation ratio αm and the Zwick curves. For this purpose, a stack of 40
square plies (150x150mm2) of the woven and the NCF glass fibers is
compacted at a speed of 1 mm/min to obtain σ d (Vf) andσw (Vf ). This
speed is defined to match the compaction rate during the impregnation
test at the considered flow-rate. The textile layup is inserted between
two load steel plates of 135 mm in diameter, where the lower platen is
fixed, and the upper one is mounted on a load cell attached to a movable
crosshead. The measurements are controlled via the Zwick Roell testX­
pert III test software to record displacements and the reaction forces on
the upper load platen using displacement controlled testing. The anal­
ysis consists of five compaction measurements on five different speci­
mens and an average of the curves was evaluated.
The permeability results are compared to analytical solutions
considering the same parameters as Eq. (4) except for the flow front
position zff(t), which is calculated following Eq. (10), with a variable Vf
calculated (Eq. (6)) considering the compaction Δe as shown in Fig. 5:
Q
zff (t) = t (10)
(1 − Vf )∙A
The cloud of K3unsat results generated by all the experiments is fitted
to Gebart’s model [31].
(√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ )2.5
16 Va
k3 = √̅̅̅ − 1 ∙r2 (11)
9∙π 6 Vf
M.A Kabachi et al. Composites Part A 141 (2021) 106203

Fig. 8. Pictures of the first impregnated layers of the NCF (Vf0 = 0.55) after an impregnation stopped halfway ordered (from top to bottom).

Where Va = 0.907 is the maximum fiber volume fraction of the hexag­ two different average saturation ratios, αm1 = 20% and αm2 = 50% for
onal fiber arrangement (which is assumed for the test fabrics), r the fiber the woven fabric, and αm1 = 30% and αm2 = 50% for the NCF. The re­
radius. sults are averaged, and compared with dry and wet compaction curves
obtained from a universal testing machine (Zwick) and presented in
4. Results and discussion Figs. 9 and 10 for woven and the NCF respectively along with the
standard deviations at different points.
The video frames in Fig. 7, are excerpts from videos using the newly
developed tool and depict four images from the impregnation of the NCF
textile with an initial Vf0 of 0.4. The robustness of the presented method
is highlighted by the uniformity of the recorded flow front propagation.
To check the validity of the assumptions that the recorded zff rep­
resents the flow inside the fiber-bed and that a tight fit of the sample
eliminates race-tracking, an impregnation experiment of the NCF (Vf0 =
0.55) was stopped halfway by detaching the hose connecting the pump
to the cell. The sample was taken out and the dry layers were removed
until the first partially wet layer was reached, pictures of the next 4
layers are presented in Fig. 8.
Knowing that the thickness of a single layer is approximately 0.3 mm
at the indicated Vf for NCF (calculated eq.6), the pictures presented in
Fig. 8 show that the difference in flow front position between layers 1
and 4 is around 1 mm. This difference is neglected since it is comparable
to the slight fluctuation of the flow front (as shown in Fig. 7 after 10 s or
30 s) which is averaged to provide the zff used for K3unsat calculation.
This figure provides also solid evidence of the absence of race-tracking
since the oil reaches the center and some edges at the same time.

4.1. Compaction

The dry and wet compactions are analyzed during through-thickness Fig. 9. Woven compaction curves obtained at an average α of 20% and 50%
injection using two compaction curves extracted from each flow test at with reference curves from Zwick.

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M.A Kabachi et al. Composites Part A 141 (2021) 106203

The dry NCF compaction curves, in turn, show a smaller difference at Vf

between 0.50 and 0.54 but remains lower than 20%. The good fit of the
compaction curves with reference results is conclusive evidence in
avoiding race-tracking, as no compaction occurs when the oil bypasses
the specimen, thus resulting in stiffer compaction curves. The afore­
mentioned comparisons validate the novel characterization method and
demonstrate its high potential in characterizing wet and dry compac­
tions during impregnation.

Fig. 10. NCF compaction curves obtained at an average α of 30% and 50%,
with reference curves from Zwick.

The results confirm the hypothesis that the determined compaction

curves represent an intermediate state of impregnation between
completely dry and fully saturated states. The variability (std/σ average )
for both fabrics range from 5% to 13% for Vf between 0.45 and 0.60,
both in dry and wet states. Higher relative errors (around 25%) are
noted at Vf lower than 0.45 and inlet pressure around 104Pa. These
relatively high errors do not affect the robustness of the method since Fig. 11. Woven dry and wet compaction curves deduced from the flow
this range of Vf and injection pressure are too low to be used in pro­ experiment at {(αm1, αm2)}= {(10%, 40%), (20%, 50%), (30%, 60%)} and
ducing engineering parts using NCF or woven fabrics via LCM processes. compared with Zwick.
Measured compaction pressures σαm are compared in Table 1 to
references σref values calculated, based on the rule of mixture, using αm1,
αm2, σd and σ w (from the Zwick) following Eq. (8) for both fabrics at Vf =
0.45 and Vf = 0.60.
Differences between the measured and reference pressures are lower
than 15% for both woven and NCF. This confirms the high consistency of
the obtained compaction curves and supports the assumption that
compaction curves σ αm (Vf) obey the rule of mixture.
The resulted compaction curves from the flow experiments at αm1
and αm2 are used to deduce the dry and fully saturated compaction
curves, respectively σ d* andσ w* , following Eq. (9). To demonstrate that
σ d* andσw* are independent from the choice of αm1 and αm2, three
arbitrary chosen couples {(αm1, αm2)} are utilized, {(10%, 40%), (20%,
50%), (30%, 60%)} for the woven and {(20%, 60%), (30%, 50%), (35%,
45%)} for the NCF. The deduced curves are shown in Figs. 11 and 12 and
compared to σd and σw (from the Zwick) for both woven and NCF.
The deduced compaction curves show good overlapping with the
ones obtained from the Zwick for both fabrics in dry and wet states at the
different couples {(αm1, αm2)}. This confirms that the deduced curves are
independent from the choice of {αm1, αm2}, and validates the assumption
about the application of the rule of mixtures. A small discrepancy is
Fig. 12. NCF dry and wet compaction curves deduced from the flow experi­
noted between σw and σw* with a maximum relative error of 25% for Vf
ment at {(αm1, αm2)}= {(20%, 60%), (30%, 50%), (35%, 45%)} and compared
lower than 0.50 but at low compaction pressures in the range of 20 KPa.
with Zwick.

Table 1
Compaction pressures obtained from flow experiments and reference pressures calculated based on αm1, αm2 σ d and σ w .
Fabric Woven NCF

Pressures σd [bar] σw [bar] σ20%[bar] σ50%[bar] σd [bar] σw [bar] σ30%[bar] σ50%[bar]

Ref Exp Ref Exp Ref Exp Ref Exp

Vf = 0.45 3.2 2.2 3 2.9 2.7 2.4 0.20 0.10 0.17 0.15 0.15 0.13
Vf = 0.60 8.0 3.5 7.1 7.2 5.75 5.9 10.0 6.6 9.0 9.0 8.3 8.0

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M.A Kabachi et al.
4.2. Unsaturated permeability
The permeability and Vf results of the three experiments are aver­
aged for each one of the 5 measurement points per Vf0 and presented in
Figs. 13 and 14 along with the standard deviation for the woven and the
NCF, respectively. The permeability results are fitted with Gebart’s
model and compared with the analytical model taking into account the
deformation based on Eqs. (5) and (10).
Figs. 13 and 14 show good agreement between the analytical and the
experimental results, wherein the standard deviation for both K3unsat
and Vf is minimal with minor exceptions. The calculated variability is
lower than 5% in Vf and lower than 10% in most K3unsat measurements,
except the first points at Vf0 = 0.40 and Vf0 = 0.45 for the woven fabric,
which exhibits a permeability variation of 13% and 25% respectively.
The increase of the initial fiber volume fraction from 0.406 to 0.436 for
the NCF occurred at 0.25 bar of inlet pressure, resulting in a perme­
ability drop of 25%, from 5.93∙10-12 m2 to 4.45∙10-12 m2. This high­
lights the importance of considering compaction in K3unsat
characterization. The aforementioned comparisons and curve fittings
confirm the robustness and accuracy of the presented measurement
Fig. 13. Experimental and analytical unsaturated K3unsat of the woven fabric
fitted with Gebart’s model with r = 10.5 µm.
Fig. 14. Experimental and analytical unsaturated K3unsat results of the NCF
fabric fitted with Gebart’s model with r = 11.5 µm.
8
Composites Part A 141 (2021) 106203
technique.
5. Conclusion
This study introduces a simple and robust method for the simulta­
neous characterization of compaction (both dry and wet) and unsatu­
rated out-of-plane permeability in one experiment. The measurement
setup uses a constant flow rate injection in through-thickness direction,
and optically tracks the compaction and flow front position with a
camera, while a pressure sensor evaluates the inlet pressure. The mini­
mized standard deviations and successful comparison with the reference
results demonstrate the consistency of this technique in readily assessing
the compaction behavior of textiles during impregnation. The results
show the high potential to replace the current state of the art method­
ologies where the induced compaction is not considered, that was the
case in the last K3 benchmark, where a big scatter is noticeable amongst
the participants’ results [32].
This technique allows for efficient textile investigations allowing a
rapid gathering of data where only one experiment is needed to generate
reliable information for permeability, dry and wet compactions. A big
advantage of this method is related to the determination of compaction
curves considering different saturation ratios and not just wet and dry.
This makes the characterization of permeability much more realistic for
developing and optimizing real injection processes. The developed
method allows easy detection of race tracking and the observation of the
fluid–structure interactions during the impregnation. It provides both
compressibility and equivalent unsaturated permeability at different Vf
function of time. This allows tailoring of the measurement setup to
closely mimic related manufacturing processes and further optimization
of injection parameters.
The presented method is suitable for various fibrous materials and
covers a very wide range of fiber volume fractions and thicknesses. It
provides an easy robust solution compared to ultrasonic sensing ap­
proaches, which are very sensitive to echo and are applicable only for
relatively thin specimens and a limited range of fabrics and Vf. In
addition, it allows for continuous and non-intrusive measurements,
unlike the embedded-sensors approaches (thermistors or optical fibers),
which provide spatially discrete measurements depending on the posi­
tion of the sensors and their number that could severely affect the flow.
The method will be even more robust by using more than one camera
pointed at different angles of the measurement cell. This would provide
more information about the flow front all around specimens and helps to
increase the precision of the measurements.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
M.A Kabachi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal
analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing -
review & editing. L. Stettler: Investigation, Data curation. S. Arreguin:
Writing - review & editing, Supervision. P. Ermanni: Writing - review &
editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the Swiss National Scientific
Foundation (SNF) for funding the research (reference 2-77114-16) that
had led to these results.
M.A Kabachi et al. Composites Part A 141 (2021) 106203

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