Predicting permeability based on flow simulations and textile modelling techniques: Comparison with experimental values and verification of FlowTex solver using Ansys CFX
This paper compares the predicted permeability values obtained from conducting simulations with experimental results from the second permeability benchmark exercise. An automated tool, which has been developed for this purpose and is presented here, carries out flow simulations on WiseTex generated meshes using Ansys CFX. Different meshing methods are explored, and the effects of different boundary conditions, number of layers used to model the preform and the incorporation of nesting are examined. The predicted permeability values of the textile model closest to the real preform structure were higher by a factor of approximately two compared to the experimental values. In the second part of this work, the permeability values obtained using Ansys CFX and FlowTex solvers are compared and the ability of both solvers to capture variations in unit cell geometric parameters is demonstrated. A close agreement between the two solvers was found.