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Structural analysis of pore size distribution of nonwovens

Amit Rawala
a
Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India

First published on: 11 February 2010

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 The Journal of The Textile Institute
Vol. 101, No. 4, April 2010, 350–359

Structural analysis of pore size distribution of nonwovens†

Amit Rawal∗
Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi 110016, India
(Received 10 January 2008; final version received 20 March 2008)

Pore size distribution is a prerequisite to investigate any transport phenomena, especially in a porous structure such as
nonwovens. The pores inside the nonwovens are highly complex in terms of the sizes, shapes and the capillary geometries.
The majority of existing theories/models of pore size distribution of nonwovens do not account for the fibre orientation
distribution characteristics. In this research work, the model for predicting the pore size distribution of nonwoven structures
has been developed by combining the stochastic and stereological or geometrical probability approaches. These techniques
have incorporated the effects of fibre orientation characteristics in nonwoven structures. The analytical model formulated
Downloaded By: [Indian Institute of Technology] At: 20:12 19 September 2010

is compared with the existing theories to predict the pore size distribution of nonwoven structures. A comparison is also
made between the experimental and theoretical pore size distributions of spun-bonded and needle-punched nonwovens. The
effect of various fibre and fabric parameters including fibre volume fraction, fibre orientation distribution characteristics and
number of layers on pore size distribution of nonwoven structures has been investigated.
Keywords: nonwovens; pore size distribution; fibre orientation; transport phenomenon; capillary; geometrical probability

Introduction further complex if the material has a hierarchical structure

Pore size distribution is a prerequisite to investigate any
transport phenomena, especially in a porous structure such
as nonwovens (Pan & Zhong, 2006). The list of transport
processes includes filtration, separation, resin impregna-
tion, wetting and wicking. The pores inside the nonwovens
are highly complex in terms of the sizes, shapes and the cap-
illary geometries. In the past, the concept of hydraulic radius
has been applied to reduce the irregular shapes of the pores
to circular shapes by matching the same volume flow as an
array of irregular-shaped pores (Lawrence & Shen, 2000).
In general, the pore geometry depends on numerous param-
eters, namely, fibre properties, processing conditions and
fabric characteristics (Lifshutz, 2005; Savel’eva, Dedov,
Bokova, & Andrianova, 2005; Simmonds, Bomberger, &
Bryner, 2007). It is well known that the flow in the medium
occurs if and only if the pores are interconnected (Fatt,
1956). Highly porous media such as nonwovens tend to be
more interconnected and should have a lower tortuosity,
i.e., the ratio of path length of the flow to the thickness of
medium (Vereoot & Cattle, 2003).
Pore geometry in nonwovens can be represented as a
three-dimensional (3D) network of pore bodies connected
by fibres. A simple analogy is to represent string and bead
as fibre and pore, respectively, and the problem is how to
arrange these strings of beads in a box (Dullien, 1975;
Yanuka, Dullien, & Elrick, 1986). The problem becomes
consisting of pores of different length scales, i.e., macro-
and micro-porosity (Vocka & Dubois, 2000). Numerous
models have been employed to predict the pore size of vari-
ous kinds of porous structures including capillary pressure
method, stochastic model, deterministic approach, sphere
pack models and stereological or geometrical probability
model. Capillary pressure and stochastic are the most pop-
ular models for determining the pore size distribution of
nonwoven fabrics.
Fatt (1956) simplified the 3D network of cylindrical
tubes by two-dimensional polygonal networks consisting
of square elemental units in addition to the overlapping
hexagonal units. The capillary pressure curves were deter-
mined by computing the pressure exceeding the capillary
pressure of the largest pore of the connecting smaller pores.
The theory was valid mainly for granular structures. Sub-
sequently, the theory of capillary pressure was employed to
the fabrics for predicting the pore size distribution (Steele,
1958). Using the principle of capillary pressure, the bubble
point method was formulated, and it has been successfully
applied to determine the pore size distribution of various
types of nonwoven geotextiles (Bhatia & Smith, 1995).
On the other hand, the fibrous filters were simulated using
random line network, and the polygon area distribution
was approximated by log-normal distribution (Piekaar
& Clarenburg, 1967). Similar expressions were obtained

∗
Email: amitrawal77@hotmail.com; amitrawal77@yahoo.com
†
This paper, in a slightly different version, was first published in the proceedings of EDANA’s 2008 Nonwovens Research Academy (NRA)
and publicly presented on the occasion of this event in Chemnitz, Germany. It is reproduced with permission
ISSN 0040-5000 print / ISSN 1754-2340 online
Copyright 
C 2010 The Textile Institute
DOI: 10.1080/00405000802442351
http://www.informaworld.com
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 351

for random network lines by Corte and Lloyd (1966),
and they established that the mean number of sides per
polygon is four and the free fibre length between the
crossover points are distributed according to negative
exponential distribution (Miles, 1964). More recently,
Dodson and his colleagues established that the pore size
distribution exhibited gamma distribution in a random
fibre network (Dodson, Handley, Oba, & Sampson, 2003;
Dodson & Sampson, 1996, 1997; Sampson, 2001, 2003).
Similarly, the gamma distribution of pore radii has also
been extended in anisotropic assembly of fibres (Castro
& Ostoja-Starzewski, 2000). Furthermore, probabilistic
models of inscribed circles in the polygons have been well
represented as a Poisson’s distribution, and hence, the pore
size distribution of nonwoven structures has been predicted
and a relationship between the fibre and fabric properties
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dicting the pore size distributions of nonwoven structures
are briefly described below.
Faure model of pore size distribution of nonwoven
structures
Faure and colleagues (Faure et al., 1990; Faure, Gourc,
Millot, & Sunjoto, 1986) proposed a model for predicting
the pore size distribution of nonwoven geotextiles based on
Poissonian polyhedra theory (Matheron, 1972). The model
is based upon Poisson line networks where the lines sim-
ulating the network of fibres are randomly oriented in the
plane. The inter-fibre spaces or pores between the straight
lines consist of convex polygons. The cumulative probabil-
ity of obtaining an inscribed circle between the polygons of
diameter equal to or less than d are shown below.

2

was formulated (Faure, Gourc, & Gendrin, 1990; Lombard, 2 + χ (d + Df )

Rollin, & Wolff, 1989; Matheron, 1972; Rollin, Denis, G(d) = 1 − e−χd (1)
2 + χ Df
Estaque, & Masounave, 1982). The Monte-Carlo technique
has also been applied to simulate the fibre network by and
assuming the nonwoven structure in the form of layers and
obtained pore size distribution numerically (Abdel-Ghani 4µ
& Davies, 1985). In addition, semi-empirical models of χ= , (2)
π Tg Df ρf
pore size distribution have been developed for nonwoven
structures (Giroud, 1996; Jaksic & Jaksic, 2007). The main where χ is the specific length representing the total length
drawback of the above theories/models is that the effect of lines per unit area; d is the inscribed circle diameter; µ is
of fibre orientation has not been accounted to compute the the mass per unit area of fabric; Tg is the fabric thickness;
pore size distribution of nonwoven structures. Nevertheless, Df is the fibre diameter; and ρ f is the density of the fibre.
Castro and Ostoja-Starzewski (2000) have proposed that The pores were assumed as a disc or an elementary
the pore size distribution of anisotropic fibrous assemblies conduit in each layer with axis perpendicular to the plane
is independent of effect of fibre orientation, but the theories of a sheet such that the length of each disc is defined as the
were not experimentally validated. However, it has been fibre diameter. Each elementary conduit connects to one
demonstrated that fibre orientation is the key parameter and only one elementary conduit in the successive layer of
influencing the pore size distribution of nonwoven and a nonwoven structure. Therefore, the gradation of conduits
related structures (Kim & Pourdeyhimi, 2000; Komori & provides the cumulative probability of passage of particles
Makashima, 1979; Ollson & Pihl, 1952; Velu, Ghosh, & through the layers of nonwovens.
Abdelfattah, 2004). Therefore, the objective of the research
work is to develop a simple model for predicting the pore Q(d) = 1 − [1 − G(d)]Tg /Df (3)
size distribution of nonwoven structures that includes
the effect of fibre orientation. The analytical model is where Q(d) is the probability of a particle with diameter d,
compared with the existing theories to determine the pore passing through a pore channel in the nonwoven.
size distribution of nonwoven structures. Subsequently, the
model is validated with the experimental results. Lombard model of pore size distribution of
nonwoven structures
Theoretical approaches Lombard et al. (1989) used the same analogy of Poisson’s
polyhedra theory for obtaining the expressions for prob-
A nonwoven is a 3D structure consisting of layers of fibres
ability of diameter distribution of a circle inscribed in a
oriented in certain directions. This 3D model of nonwoven
polygon, i.e. K(d).
structure can be easily developed by assuming the fibres to
be stacked in elementary longitudinal planes (i.e. parallel to

σ 2d 2
the plane of sheet), also known as longitudinal porometry K(d) = + σd + 1 exp (−σ d) (4)
model (Faure et al., 1990). It will be shown later that this 4
type of model is highly useful in predicting the pore size
and
distribution as it can easily capture the information about
fibre orientation in a nonwoven structure. The longitudinal 8µ
σ = , (5)
porometry models that have been used in the past for pre- π Tg Df ρf
 352
where σ is the specific length, representing the total length
of lines per unit area.
Equation (4) shows that the particle of a given diameter
can be retained; however, the particle should travel through
the layers of the nonwoven. Therefore,
Ff (d) = 1 − [K(d)]Tg /2Df ,
where Ff (d) is the cumulative probability of passage of
particles of diameter d through the layers of the nonwoven.
One of the fundamental differences between the expres-
sions for obtaining the cumulative probability of passage of
particles through the layers is that the effective layer thick-
ness or thickness of each layer is considered to be fibre
diameter and twice the fibre diameter in Faure et al. (1986,
1990) and Lombard et al. (1989) analysis, respectively.
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Theoretical model for pore size distribution of
nonwoven structures
In the above models, the specific length of fibre (total length
of fibre per unit area) is distributed stochastically, and the
methodology has not captured about the information of
orientation of fibres in the structure. However, the stereo-
A. Rawal
second method is much simpler and based upon the com-
bination of gamma distribution of polygon-inscribed cir-
cles relating the fibre orientation distribution characteris-
tics. The following assumptions have been made to simplify
the model for pore size distribution of nonwoven structures.
(6)
r The constituent fibres used in the nonwoven structure
have identical geometrical properties.
r The decrease in the length of the fibres due to the
intersection or superposition has been neglected.
r The nonwoven structure has been divided into ele-
mentary planes of equal thickness and has similar
fibre orientation distribution characteristics.
r The effect of fibre crimp has not been taken into
account because Kim and Pourdeyhimi (2000) have
clearly shown that the effect of fibre crimp has neg-
ligible influence on the pore size distribution of non-
woven structures.
In general, the gamma distribution has the following
probability density function (Dodson & Sampson, 1996,
1997):
ωk k−1 −ωx
f (x) = x e (8)
logical or geometrical probability approach can include the (k)
effect of fibre orientation on pore size distributions. There
are two ways of dealing the problem through geometrical and
probability approach. The first method is based on calculat-
ing the total length of fibres in a given volume of the plane
by considering the intersection between the orientation of
fibre and sectioning plane (Komori & Makashima, 1978).
A fibre of the orientation (θ ,ϕ) is intersected by the plane
with an orientation (,); therefore, the total number of in-
tersections, υ(,), of fibres having all possible directions
on a unit area of the secant plane is shown below:
(k) = (k − 1)!,
where x is any variable; k is the shape parameter; and ω is
the scale or coverage parameter, which will be defined later.
Based on Castro and Ostoja-Starzewski (2000) analysis,
it has been shown that the value of shape parameter (k) is
3,

υ(, ) = L · B(, ) (7) ω3 2 −ωx

f (x) = x e . (9)
2

and Therefore, the cumulative probability, F (d), of obtaining

  an inscribed circle between the polygons of diameter equal
π π
B(, ) = dθ dϕA(θ, ϕ, , )
(θ, ϕ) sin θ to or less than d is given below:
0 0
 d
A(θ, ϕ, , ) = |sin θ sin  cos(ϕ − ) + cos θ cos | , ω3 2 −ωx
F (d) = x e dx. (10)
0 2
where L is the total length of a fibre in a given volume, and

(θ ,ϕ) is the orientation distribution function of fibres. Integrating by parts has yielded the following expression:
The total length of the fibre in each layer can be calcu-

lated by determining the number of intersections, υ(,), ω2 d 2 −ωd
F (d) = 1 − 1 + ωd + e . (11)
experimentally. Here, each layer has a thickness of twice 2
the fibre diameter. Subsequently, the total length of fibres
in a given volume of the plane can be incorporated into Equation (11) shows that in each layer, the particle of diam-
any stochastic model for the passage of particle through eter, dp , will not be retained on convex polygons if dp ≤ d.
the polygons. However, it is a cumbersome process to de- However, the cumulative probability for the particle of di-
termine the number of intersections experimentally. The ameter greater than the pore diameter, i.e. dp > d, in each
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 353

layer is complement to 1 of F (d). In other words, the parti-

cle of diameter (dp ) will be retained on the inscribed circle
of diameter d. Hence,

H (d) = [1 − F (d)] , (12)

where H (d) is the probability of a particle with diameter d

retaining on each layer of nonwoven.
The cumulative probability for the particle to be retained
on a given number of layers (N) is shown below.

Hf (d) = [1 − F (d)]N , (13)

where Hf (d) is the cumulative probability of a particle with

diameter d retaining on the layers of nonwoven.
Hence, the cumulative probability of a particle with
diameter d not being retained on the layers of nonwoven,
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i.e., Ff (d) or the particle with diameter d passing through

the layers of a nonwoven is shown below.

Ff (d) = 1 − Hf (d). (14) Figure 1. Pores modelled in a layer of fibres.

Combining the Equations (11)–(14) has yielded the follow-

ing expression: control the geometry of an irregular polygon, and hence,

 N the largest diameter of the particle passing through a pore.
ω2 d 2 Strictly speaking, the number of fibres forming a polygon
Ff (d) = 1 − 1 + ωd + e−ωd . (15)
2 will have the same number of fibre intersections.
According to Pan, Chen, Seo, and Backer (1997) and
To calculate the number of layers, it is assumed that each Rawal, Lomov, Ngo, and Vankerrebrouck (2007), the num-
layer is stacked in an elementary plane and the number ber of intersections formed in a volume, dVj , having a unit
of layers is defined as the ratio of total thickness of the cross-sectional area (Aj = 1), is limited by two planes nor-
nonwoven to the effective thickness of elementary plane mal to the test direction. The volume, dVj , has the thickness
(Faure et al., 1986, 1990; Lombard et al., 1989). According corresponding to the average distance between the intersec-
to Faure et al. (1986), the effective thickness of elementary tions projected on the planar direction, j . The number of
plane has a significant influence on their model, and in our intersections, ndVj , is calculated inside the volume, dVj , as-
model, each layer is assumed to have a thickness of twice suming that the fibres are distributed uniformly in the space
the fibre diameter, as shown in Figure 1. For a particle to (Rawal et al., 2007), and hence,
travel through the layers of nonwoven, it is assumed that
each elementary plane consists of two fibres; therefore,
the structure must consist of Tg /2Df planes where Tg is 2Vf
ndVj = Kj (17)
the thickness of the fabric and Df is the fibre diameter. π Df2
Hence, the following relation to determine the cumulative
probability of passage of particles through the layers of
and
nonwoven is obtained:

 Tg /2Df  
ω2 d 2 π/2 π/2
Ff (d) = 1 − 1 + ωd + e−ωd . (16) Kj = 2
sin θ dθ
(θ, ϕ) |cos ϕ| dϕ, (18)
2 0 −π/2

It is important to quantify the coverage parameter (ω) as it

reveals the shape and dimension of the pore in the struc- where Df is the fibre diameter; Vf is the fibre volume frac-
ture. The area and shape of irregular polygon, specifically in tion;
(θ ,ϕ) is the orientation distribution function of fibres;
anisotropic fibrous assemblies, are susceptible to the num- and Kj is the directional parameter or geometric coefficient
ber of the intersections and the angle formed between the when the average distance between the intersections is pro-
two fibres. In other words, the number of intersections be- jected on the planar direction j . For an in-plane distribution
tween the fibres and the orientation of the fibre in a structure
(θ, ϕ) =
ϕ (ϕ) · δ (θ − π/2), Equation (18) changes to
 354 A. Rawal

Table 1. Fibre properties used in the production of nonwoven Table 2. Properties of nonwoven structures.
structures.
Properties Spun-bonded Needle-punched
Properties Spun-bonded Needle-punched
Mass per unit area (g/m2 ) 75 296
Type of fibre Polyethylene Polyester Thickness (mm) 0.89 3.47
Fibre diameter (µm) 20 23.5
Fibre density (g/cm3 ) 0.95 1.38
Also,
µ
Vf = , (21)
the following expression: ρf Tg

 π/2 where µ is the mass per unit area of fabric; Tg is the fabric
Kj = |cos ϕ|
ϕ (ϕ)dϕ, (19) thickness; and ρf is the density of fibre.
−π/2
From Equations (20) and (21),

where
ϕ (ϕ) is an in-plane distribution of fibres (ϕ). 4µKj
ω=
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The coverage parameter (ω) can be defined as the prod- . (22)

π Tg Df ρf
uct of number of intersections formed in a volume (dVj )
having a unit cross-sectional area (ndVj ) and thickness of The expressions for Faure’s specific length as shown in
each layer (twice the fibre diameter). Therefore, Equation (2) and coverage parameter stated in Equation
(22) are similar except that the directional parameter is
4Vf Kj incorporated in computing the coverage parameter. Nev-
ω = ndVj (2Df ) = . (20)
πDf ertheless, Equations (16) and (22) involve basic fibre and

(a) 0.08
0.07
Relative frequency

0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
–90 –80 –70 –60 –50–40 –30 –20 –10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Fibre orientation angle (o)

(b) 0.09
0.08
0.07
Relative frequency

0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
–90 –80 –70 –60 –50 –40 –30 –20 –10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Fibre orientation angle (o)

Figure 2. Fibre orientation distributions for (a) spun-bonded and (b) needle-punched nonwoven structures.
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 355

1
0.9

Cumulative frequencies
0.8
0.7
Lombard's Model
0.6
Faure's Model
0.5
Experimental
0.4
Theoretical
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Pore diameter (µm)

Figure 3. Comparison between theoretical and experimental pore size distribution of a spun-bonded nonwoven structure.
Downloaded By: [Indian Institute of Technology] At: 20:12 19 September 2010

fabric properties including the effect of fibre orientation a specimen of 2.1 cm in diameter is saturated with wetting
distribution characteristics. liquid (Galwick) of low surface tension (15.9 dynes/cm)
and unidirectional air pressure is applied to the saturated
specimen to force the liquid on the other side. An increase
Experimental in air pressure causes the bubble to escape from the largest
The reported work is based upon two types of nonwovens, pore initially, and a further increase in air pressure results
i.e., spun-bonded (supplied by the Technical University of in removal of the bubbles from smaller pores. This implies
Liberec) and needle-punched structures. Polyethylene and that the liquid from the largest pores would be emptied
polyester fibres have been used in the production of spun- at the lowest pressure and the gas flow through the speci-
bonded and needle-punched nonwoven structures, respec- men would be initiated. Further details of liquid extrusion
tively, and the properties of constituent fibres are shown porosimetry technique are given by Jena and Gupta (2003).
in Table 1. A needle-punched structure was produced by
opening the fibres by carding and, subsequently, prefer- Results and discussion
entially orientated in the cross-machine direction using a
A comparison between the theoretical and experimental
cross-lapper. Figure 2 shows the histograms of relative fre-
results is given below. In addition, the effect of some fibre
quency of fibres with respect to the machine direction (0◦ )
and fabric parameters has also been analysed.
of spun-bonded and needle-punched nonwoven structures.
The fabric properties are also given in Table 2. The pore
sizes of the nonwoven fabrics were experimentally deter- Comparison of theoretical and experimental results
mined by capillary flow porometer based on the principle The pore size distributions of spun-bonded and needle-
of liquid extrusion porosimetry technique. In this method, punched nonwoven structures are theoretically obtained

1
0.9
Cumulative frequencies

0.8
0.7
Lombard's Model
0.6
Faure's Model
0.5
Experimental
0.4
Theoretical
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Pore diameter (µm)

Figure 4. Comparison between theoretical and experimental pore size distribution of a needle-punched nonwoven structure.
 356
Figure 5. Top view of a spun-bonded nonwoven structure.
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using Equations (16) and (22). Subsequently, a comparison
is made between the theoretical and experimental results of
pore size distribution of spun-bonded and needle-punched
nonwovens, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, respectively. In
general, there is an excellent correlation (R = 0.99) be-
tween theoretical and experimental results of pore size dis-
tribution of spun-bonded and needle-punched nonwovens.
The differences between the two sets of results are due to the
following reasons. Firstly, some of the pores are not convex,
that leads to an unavoidable error. In case of needle-punched
nonwovens, there are fibres orientated through the plane (z
direction); however, the ratio of fibres in the z direction is a
small fraction of the total number of fibres and the in-plane
orientation of the fibre still dictates the structural charac-
teristics of any nonwoven (Mao, Russell, & Pourdeyhimi,
2007). Secondly, lighter fabrics, especially spun-bonded
nonwovens, are more sensitive to structural deformation as
the distance between the bond points or free fibre length is
Figure 6. Relationship between cumulative probability of passage of particles and directional parameter for a nonwoven of area density
75 g/m2 with varying fibre orientation distributions.
A. Rawal
quite high, and it is also evident from Figure 5. Therefore,
the particles can move laterally forming a larger passage in
the structure (Lombard et al., 1989). Thirdly, there is a fibre
diameter variation in the case of a spun-bonded nonwoven
structure that can become significant at the microscale and
can lead to inevitable errors as it has been assumed that the
geometrical properties of constituent fibres are the same.
Similarly, there may be some variation in the physical char-
acteristics of nonwovens including mass-per-unit area and
thickness.
The pore size distribution of spun-bonded and needle-
punched nonwoven structures is also predicted using the
models of Lombard et al. (1989) and Faure et al. (1990),
and a comparison is made between the theoretical and ex-
perimental results, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. It has been
found that these models have largely underestimated the
pore size distribution of nonwovens and, therefore, may
not be suitable for predicting the pore size distribution of
nonwoven structures.
Effect of fibre and fabric parameters on the pore
size distribution of nonwoven structures
Equations (16) and (22) show that the probability of passage
of particles through the layers of nonwoven is dependent on
fibre volume fraction, directional parameter or fibre ori-
entation distribution characteristics and number of layers.
For a given fibre type, the above parameters can be easily
varied. Theoretically, the value of directional parameter is
0.6, assuming that the fibres are uniformly and randomly
distributed in the structure. Figure 6 shows the passage
of particles through the layers of nonwoven as a function
of directional parameter for a fictive nonwoven keeping
other parameters constant. It is clearly shown that there
is a shift in pore size distribution curves, i.e., pore size
decreases as the anisotropy increases. It is contradictory to
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 357
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Figure 7. Probability of particles passing through the fictive spun-bonded nonwovens having uniform randomly oriented fibres (diameter
30 µm) as a function of pore diameter and fibre volume fraction.

the previous theories proposed by Castro and Ostoja-
Starzewski (2000) in which the pore size distribution pre-
dicted is not affected by fibre orientation distribution.
However, the relationship obtained between pore size and
anisotropic characteristics of nonwovens is found to be sim-
ilar to that simulated by Kim and Pourdeyhimi (2000) and
Velu et al. (2004). The researchers have demonstrated that
the pore radius decreases with an increase in the anisotropy.
Furthermore, the combined effect of fibre volume frac-
tion and particle diameter on the probability of passage

Figure 8. Probability of particles passing through the fictive spun-bonded nonwovens having uniform randomly oriented fibres (diameter
30 µm) as a function of pore diameter and number of layers.
 358 A. Rawal
of the particles through spun-bonded nonwoven has also
been analysed, as shown in Figure 7. An increase in fibre
volume fraction decreases the pore size as number of fibre
increases in each layer of a nonwoven structure. Similar
behaviour has been observed by increasing the number of
layers in a nonwoven structure, as shown in Figure 8.
Conclusions
In this research work, an analytical model of pore size dis-
tribution of nonwovens has been developed based on the
gamma distribution of circles inscribed in the convex poly-
gons formed between the straight lines. Subsequently, the
model has been related to the fibre orientation character-
istics of nonwovens by calculating the number of fibre
intersections forming a polygon on the given volume of
the plane. In general, there is a good agreement between
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the theoretical and experimental results of pore size dis-
tribution of nonwoven structures. A comparison between
the existing analytical models of pore size distribution of
nonwovens and experimental results has revealed that these
models have largely underestimated and, therefore, may not
be suitable for predicting the pore size distribution of these
structures (Faure et al., 1990; Lombard et al., 1989). It is
also shown that pore size decreases as the anisotropy in-
creases and it is contrary to the previous research work in
which fibre orientation has no effect on pore size distri-
bution of fibrous assemblies (Castro & Ostoja-Starzewski,
2000; Komori & Makashima, 1979). Nevertheless, the ef-
fect of fibre orientation on pore size distribution is found
to be similar to that of the reported work by Kim and
Pourdeyhimi (2000) and Velu et al. (2004). It has also been
demonstrated that pore size significantly decreases with an
increase in fibre volume fraction and the number of layers.
Acknowledgements
The author expresses gratitude to Dr Vera Chetty of the University
of Bolton and Mr Patrice Hellebaut of Benelux Scientific for
supplying and measuring the pore size distributions of nonwovens,
respectively.
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