Modelling and simulation of the hydrodynamic properties of protection and filter fabrics under consideration of service loads to predict their barrier and permeability properties

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Chokri Cherif; Dr. Stefan Rief
• Subject Area: Lightweight Construction, Textile Technology
• Term: from 2014 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 255549700

Many applications require technical textiles that combine defined permeability and retention properties. Mono- or multifilament woven fabrics have advantages compared to nonwovens and membranes. They can transfer large forces so that they overtake a supporting function in addition to their barrier function. These requirements are partly in the opposite direction so that the selection of a filter medium is a highly complex problem, in which the application needs and the characteristics of the filter must be considered balanced. The aim of the research project is the realistic simulation of the permeability and barrier properties of protective and filter fabrics under service loads to derive general laws and to purposefully develop woven fabrics with specific properties. The following scientific objectives are pursued:- Characterization of the fabric morphology and fabric characteristics for detecting the fundamental relationships between the machine parameters, the process parameters and the fabric construction as well as the fabric properties,- Establishment of a general model based on an artificial neural network to predict the fabric morphology and hydrodynamics (permeability, particle retention) as a function of the machine and process parameters,- Understanding of the multi-scale morphology changes of the fabrics at the micro, meso and macro level under consideration of in-plane service loads and development of a methodology for the in-situ detection of the pore geometry in uni- and biaxial stress states (tension and shear) during and after static and cyclic loading,- Numerical modeling, simulation and validation of the pore geometry changes at the micro scale (pores in the yarn) and meso scale (pores between the yarns) under stresses,- Modeling and simulation of multiphase hydrodynamic properties (permeability, particle retention) using CFD method in micro- and meso-structure for unstressed and stressed fabrics,- Formulation of laws for the connection between the machine and process parameters on the one hand and the material parameters, the resulting fabric morphology and the service properties resulting from the pore morphology (e. g., permeability, retention and filtration) on the other hand.At the end of the research project, it should be possible to develop textile filter materials based on simulations with significantly less effort. In addition, the validated models and the established simulation tools should contribute to a deeper understanding of the basics of complex retention mechanisms in fabrics with different functional requirements.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants