Simulation of Fluid Flow through Composite Materials

Abstract

Composite materials, which find many applications in cutting-edge technologies, are made up of two or more components with dissimilar properties. Consequently, knowing the overall, apparent set of physical parameters can be challenging. The classical approach is to resort to lab experimentation and empirical models, which can be expensive and time-consuming. We propose a semi-analytical tool to find the apparent permeability of filters through an adaptive finite element method (AFEM). The AFEM obtains an approximation of the fluid flow, and from it, we can derive the apparent permeability. We compared our simulations with experimental data, showing good agreement.