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Industrial Textiles

Air Permeability of Multilayer Needle Punched Nonwoven Fabrics:

Theoretical Method
M. Mohammadi, P. Banks-Lee and Parviz Ghadimi
Journal of Industrial Textiles 2002 32: 45
DOI: 10.1106/152808302031065

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 Air Permeability of Multilayer
Needle Punched Nonwoven Fabrics:
Theoretical Method
M. MOHAMMADI AND P. BANKS-LEE*
College of Textiles
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC, USA

PARVIZ GHADIMI
Department of Mathematics
Duke University
Durham, NC, USA

ABSTRACT: The theoretical permeability of multilayered nonwoven fabrics was

studied using a modified Kozeny equation. The Kozeny equation is based on the
concept of a hydraulic radius, i.e., a characteristic length parameter. It is limited to
structures with porosities less than 0.94. The structures used in this research are
intended for use as high temperature insulation and all had porosities of greater than
0.96. The Kozeny equation was therefore modified to extend its usefulness to fabrics
with higher porosity. Fabric construction parameters, along with fabric and fiber
properties were used as inputs to this model and theoretical air permeability was
determined. The effect of number of barbs and layering structure on the
determination of theoretical air permeability was also considered and discussed.
Statistical analysis was performed showing that fabric thickness, number of needle
barbs, mean pore size and fabric density are significant factors in predicting
theoretical air permeability.

KEY WORDS: air permeability, needle punched nonwovens, multilayered fabrics.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL TEXTILES, Vol. 32, No. 1—July 2002 45

1528-0837/02/01 0045–13 $10.00/0 DOI: 10.1106/152808302031065
ß 2002 Sage Publications
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46 M. MOHAMMADI ET AL.

INTRODUCTION

fabric structure can have a dominant influence

I N MANY APPLICATIONS,
on the performance characteristics of a material, particularly in
controlling transport of fluids. The pressure gradient through a bed of
porous media is a function of the viscosity, density, rate of the fluid flow,
and porosity, just as with flow through a pipe. However, with porous
materials, the extent, shape, arrangement, and size distribution of the voids
through which flow occurs must be considered. Perhaps the simplest
approach is to seek a correlation between permeability and porosity (or void
ratio). However, Scheidegger [9] and Hillel [5], among others, concluded
that there is no simple correlation between permeability and porosity
because of the strong dependence of flow rate on the width, shape, and
tortuosity of the conducting channels.
Numerous theoretical models have been introduced to represent porous
media by a set of relationships that are amenable to mathematical
treatment. Basically, there are two main groups of these models. The first
is based on a generalization of Kozeny’s approach for saturated and
unsaturated porous media [2,6]. This theory is based on the concept of the
hydraulic radius. The second group employed the capillary model using the
pore size distribution (PSD) to calculate permeability [9]. In this research,
a modified Kozeny’s equation is used to predict the permeability of highly
porous materials.

THEORY

The approach used in this research is to relate the theoretical flow

permeability, as defined by Kozeny–Carman [2,6] and the volume of flow, as
defined by Darcy’s Law [2].
The basic law governing the calculation of permeability is Darcy’s Law
which states that rate of flow is directly proportional to the pressure
gradient causing the flow [2]. If a volume, Q, flows in t seconds across
a cross-sectional area, A, the apparent linear rate of flow, q, is

Q
q¼ : ð1Þ
At

Darcy’s law states that

p
q ¼ Kfp ð2Þ
L

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 Air Permeability of Multilayered Nonwoven Fabrics 47

or

p
Qfp ¼ AKfp t ð3Þ
L
where Qfp is the volume flowing in time; Kfp is the flow permeability
coefficient,
p is the pressure difference; q is the apparent linear rate of
flow, and L is the thickness of the sample. Kfp can be determined by
experimental method or by theoretical calculation.

DETERMINATION OF THEORETICAL FLOW PERMEABILITY

Kozeny–Carman [2] defined the theoretical flow permeability coefficient,

Ktfp, for a homogeneous porous material with porosity, "<0.92 as
"3
Ktfp ¼ ð4Þ
s2 ko t2f

where " is the porosity of the sample;  is the viscosity of the flow, s is the
channel wetted surface; Ktfp is the theoretical flow permeability coefficient,
ko is the shape factor, and tf is the tortuosity factor, defined as
Le
tf ¼ , and ð5Þ
L
Le is the effective channel length.
The tortuosity factor, the ratio of the effective or tortuous channel length
and the sample thickness, is an important parameter in determining flow
through nonwoven [7,8] as shown in Figure 1. The effect of tortuosity has
been previously evaluated in relation to fluid flow through nonwoven.
Piekaar and Clarenburg [7,8] derived the tortuosity factor based on the
geometry of a porous filter. As a filter is a rather complicated system
of pores, a number of assumptions are required in order to establish
a geometrical model suitable for subsequent mathematical analysis. In a pore
system formed by intersecting fibers, pores of all geometrical shapes are
possible. A fraction of this pore surface area will conduct volume flow. This
fraction is called the effective pore area. In this system all fibers are
distributed randomly, perpendicular to the flow direction.
The tortuosity factor, Le =L, has been defined by Piekaar and Clarenburg
[7] for "<0.94 as

2 "  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 2 #
Le 0:858 1:865="  1:024 R2
¼ 1þ ð6Þ
L 4d 2

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48 M. MOHAMMADI ET AL.

FIGURE 1. Schematic diagram of tortuosity in fibrous materials.

where R is the mean effective pore radius on the surface of the fabric, " is the
mean porosity of the sample, and d is the mean fiber diameter [7]. R was
derived by Verschoor [11] and found to be

d  d
Dp ¼ 0:785 ¼ ¼ 2R ð7Þ
Vavff 4 1"

where d is the mean fiber diameter, Vavff is the mean volume fraction of the
sample, and Dp is the mean effective pore diameter.
The theoretical permeability, qtp, for a material with porosity greater than
0.94 can be found as follows:
Recall that

"3
Ktfp ¼ ð8Þ
s2 

where the Kozeny Constant,  is

 ¼ ko t2f ð9Þ

Substituting for the channel wetted surface, s,

s ¼ ½so ð1  "Þ ð10Þ

where so is the specific surface area of a cylindrical particle and is

determined by

2RLe 4
so ¼ ¼ , ð11Þ
R2 Le d

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 Air Permeability of Multilayered Nonwoven Fabrics 49

the Kozeny equation for fibrous materials then becomes

d 2 "3
Ktfp ¼ for " < 0:94: ð12Þ
16ð1  "Þ2

However, Davies [3] empirically derived the permeability coefficient for

fibrous beds having porosity in the range of 0.7–0.994 using Equation (13)
below

d2
Kfp ¼  ð13Þ
64ð1  "Þ 1 þ 56ð1  "Þ3
1:5

where the mean fiber size, d, is the same as the surface mean size in the
Kozeny equation. Using Equations (12) and (13) Davies defined kD as given
by Equation (14) and stated that this kD can be used to extend the Kozeny
equation to porosities up to 0.994.

4"3 ð1  "Þ1:5 1 þ 56ð1  "Þ3
kD ¼ : ð14Þ
ð1  "Þ2

Thus, the modified Kozeny equation becomes

d 2 "3
Ktfp ¼ , ð15Þ
16kD ð1  "Þ2

where
8 9
>
> Le >
< ko L ,
> " < 0:94 >
>
=
kD ¼  :
>
> 4"3 ð1  "Þ1:5 1 þ 56ð1  "Þ3 >
>
: , " > 0:94 >
>
;
ð1  "Þ2

The theoretical linear flow rate, qt, can then be determined by

d 2 "3
p
qt ¼ 2 L
cm=s: ð16Þ
16kD ð1  "Þ

where kD is called the Davies Constant.

In this research, two fibers, glass and ceramic, are used in the fabric and
thus the structure is heterogeneous. However, the fibers used to produce the

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50 M. MOHAMMADI ET AL.

ceramic layers for all samples have approximately the same diameter and
density as the fibers used to produce the glass layers for all samples. Since
the fiber densities and fiber diameters are approximately the same,
a homogeneous fabric is assumed, and weighted averages are used for all
parameters in the Kozeny–Carmen equation. Thus

mt
"¼1 ð17Þ
AL

and

G C
¼ ð18Þ
PG C þ PC G

where, A is the sample cross-sectional area; L is the sample thickness; mt

is the total weight of the heterogeneous nonwoven material; is the average
density of the heterogeneous nonwoven material; " is the average porosity of
the heterogeneous nonwoven material; G is the density of the glass fiber
web in the heterogeneous nonwoven material; C is the density of the
ceramic fiber web in the heterogeneous nonwoven material; PG is the weight
fraction of glass fiber web in the heterogeneous nonwoven material, and PC
is the weight fraction of ceramic fiber web in the heterogeneous nonwoven
material.
Also, for the samples being used in this research
 
nðdG LG Þ þ j ðdC LC Þ
d¼ ð19Þ
nLG þ jLC

where, dG is the diameter of glass fiber; dC is the diameter of ceramic fiber;

LG is the thickness of the glass fiber web in the sample; LC is the thickness of
the ceramic fiber web in the sample; n is the number of glass layers; j is the
number of ceramic layers, and d is the mean fiber diameter.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

Twelve fabric samples were produced using fiberglass and ceramic fibers.
Staple industrial glass fibers, provided by Owens Corning, having a density
of 2.54 g/cm3 and a measured diameter of 7.3 m were converted to fiber webs.
Ceramic webs made from fibers having a density of 2.63 g/cm3 and
a diameter of 6 m were provided by Kaowool Ceramic Fiber Products.

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 Air Permeability of Multilayered Nonwoven Fabrics 51

The ceramic webs had a measured thickness of 1.0 cm with a 23.9%

coefficient of variation, while the glass webs had a measured thickness of
0.46 cm with a 4.0% coefficient of variation. Thickness, at zero pressure,
and fiber diameter were measured using an AMES 282 gage at zero pressure,
and a Video Microscope Instrument [12], respectively.
Fabrics were produced using four layering structures, with each structure
being punched using needles with 3, 6, or 9 barbs. A total of 12 fabrics were
produced using the glass (G) and ceramic (C) layering patterns given in
Table 1. Weight of an eight-inch diameter sample, and sample thickness are
also given in Table 1. Also given in Table 1 is the porosity determined from
Equation (17), for each of the twelve multilayered, nonwoven fabrics.
Davies constant, kD, mean pore size determined from Equation (8) and
the theoretical permeability, qtp, are recorded in Table 2. The theoretical
permeability shown in Table 2 is calculated from Equation (16), a modified
Kozeny equation, at air viscosity of 180 dyne s/cm2 [1,4]. The Kozeny
constant,  in Equation (12) was redefined by Davies to be kD in Equation
(14). This increased the usefulness of the Kozeny equation to fabrics having
porosity up to 0.994 [10].
The Davies constant, kD, is a function of pore shape factor and fabric
tortuosity, which is a function of fabric thickness. Thus the theoretical
permeability is a function of fiber diameter, porosity, pore shape factor,

Table 1. Average weight, thickness, porosity, and pore-size for fabric structures.

Mean
Pore Fabric
Size Weight Thickness Density
Number of Fabric
Needle Barbs Structure m g %CV cm %CV Porosity g/cm3

3 Barbs G–C–G 186.8 41.98 6.50 1.69 5.55 0.9707 0.077

GG–C–GG 190.1 58.81 8.71 2.37 6.29 0.9705 0.077
G–C–G–C–G 161.0 71.55 7.97 2.50 4.37 0.9663 0.088
GG–C–G–C–GG 169.9 81.78 6.48 2.98 2.44 0.9675 0.085
6 Barbs G–C–G 187.9 42.62 5.01 1.58 11.65 0.9681 0.083
GG–C–GG 196.9 55.14 2.83 2.06 6.11 0.9683 0.083
G–C–G–C–G 168.8 70.54 10.36 2.40 3.76 0.9654 0.091
GG–C–G–C–GG 168.3 85.35 5.66 2.98 3.78 0.9638 0.088
9 Barbs G–C–G 200.9 46.51 2.41 1.84 7.30 0.9702 0.078
GG–C–GG 189.6 56.72 8.97 2.07 6.19 0.9657 0.084
G–C–G–C–G 149.8 75.00 8.58 2.27 4.49 0.9611 0.102
GG–C–G–C–GG 153.9 87.56 7.38 2.66 3.32 0.9604 0.102

Note: All values are the average of four samples.

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52 M. MOHAMMADI ET AL.

Table 2. Davies constant and theoretical permeability for fabric structures.

*Fraction of *Fraction of Theoretical

Ceramic Glass Permeability
Number of Fabric **Davies
Needle Barbs Structure %CV %CV Constant cm3/(cm2s)

3 Barbs G–C–G 0.734 2.34 0.266 6.46 21.4 10.7

GG–C–GG 0.619 5.25 0.381 8.53 21.4 8.7
G–C–G–C–G 0.715 2.43 0.235 7.96 19.7 6.0
GG–C–G–C–GG 0.658 3.31 0.342 6.38 20.1 5.7
6 Barbs G–C–G 0.738 1.71 0.262 4.83 20.4 10.1
GG–C–GG 0.596 1.91 0.404 2.81 20.4 8.5
G–C–G–C–G 0.761 3.38 0.239 10.76 19.4 5.6
GG–C–G–C–GG 0.673 2.76 0.327 5.67 18.9 4.9
9 Barbs G–C–G 0.760 0.75 0.240 2.38 23.2 8.6
GG–C–GG 0.605 5.85 0.395 8.95 22.3 7.2
G–C–G–C–G 0.776 2.51 0.224 8.62 20.3 4.4
GG–C–G–C–GG 0.681 3.46 0.319 7.37 20.2 4.1

Note: All values are the average of four samples; *Fraction by weight of glass or ceramic in the sample;
**Assuming the dynamic viscosity,  is 180 micropoise for air at room temperature [1,4].

fabric thickness, and tortuosity. Also, the porosity in Equation (14) is

a function of mass as shown in Equation (17).

EFFECT OF NUMBER OF BARBS

cAs seen in Table 2 and Figure 2, as the number of needle barbs increases
the theoretical permeability decreases for all fabric structures. This trend is as
expected since increasing the number of barbs reduces thickness and increases
packing density. Increasing the number of needle barbs also reduces porosity.
This reduction in pore space makes it more difficult for fluids to find
completely open channels leading from one surface of the material to the
other surface. This means the flow channel will be more tortuous and thus the
tortuosity will be increased. The effect of all of these factors leads to a
decrease in permeability when the number of barbs is increased.

EFFECT OF LAYERS

As seen in Table 2 and Figure 3, as the number of layers of glass increases

the theoretical permeability decreases for all three types of needles. Also,
for each type of needle the decrease in permeability, when comparing G–C–G
and GG–C–GG samples, is approximately 1.5 cm3/cm2 s. In comparing

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 Air Permeability of Multilayered Nonwoven Fabrics 53

FIGURE 2. Effect of number of needle barbs on theoretical air permeability of glass

and ceramic nonwoven structures.

FIGURE 3. Effect of number of layering structure on theoretical air permeability of

glass and ceramic nonwoven structures.

G–C–G–C–G samples to GG–C–G–C–GG samples the decrease appears

to be about 0.4 cm3/cm2 s. This decrease is expected since increasing number
of layers will increase the fabric thickness, resulting in an increase of resistance
to airflow. Also, in a nonwoven material where fibers are laid in webs in a
random order, increasing the number of layers will reduce the probability of
surface pores being connected. Increasing the number of these random webs

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54 M. MOHAMMADI ET AL.

will in all likelihood cause the path of flow through the material to be more
tortuous and thus cause a reduction in permeability.
The ability to clearly see the effect of adding an additional layer of
ceramic fiber is slightly compromised by the fact that an additional layer
of glass is also added, i.e., compare the G–C–G and G–C–G–C–G samples
or the GG–C–GG and GG–C–G–C–GG samples. However, it is still
believed that increasing the number of ceramic layers caused the theoretical
permeability to decrease. Increasing the number of glass webs from two
to four (G–C–G vs. GG–C–GG) caused only an average decrease of 17%
in air permeability. However, increasing the number of ceramic layers
from one to two (G–C–G vs. G–C–G–C–G) caused an average decrease
in air permeability of approximately 46%. Even though there is an
additional layer of glass inserted along with the ceramic layer, it alone
cannot account for such a large percent decrease in permeability. As
discussed earlier, both the glass and ceramic fibers used have approximately
the same diameters and densities. However, the ceramic webs have much
higher weight and thickness than the glass webs. Thus increasing the number
of ceramic layers has much greater effect than increasing the number of glass
layers.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

The regression analysis procedure, with backward elimination, in the

Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) package was used to predict theoretical
air permeability. Variables used in these models included fabric weight,
thickness, porosity, mean pore size, and fabric density. Also, fraction of
glass and fraction of ceramic in the structure, and the number of needle
barbs used to punch the webs were used as model parameters. Results from
the two models are shown in Table 3. Figure 4 shows the predicted

Table 3. Statistical model results for theoretical air permeability.

Model Number Independent Variables Estimate Pr > |t| R2

1 Fabric thickness 2.932 <0.0001 0.9732

Number of barbs 0.329 0.0003
Mean pore size 0.058 0.0004
Intercept 5.424 0.0646
2 Fabric thickness 3.060 <0.0001 0.9719
Number of barbs 0.151 0.0604
Fabric density 128.864 0.0005
Intercept 26.075 <0.0001

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 Air Permeability of Multilayered Nonwoven Fabrics 55

FIGURE 4. Comparison of actual theoretical air permeability and theoretical

permeability predicted by using models 1 and 2.

theoretical air permeability compared well with the actual theoretical

permeability for each of the models. The remaining variables in each model
are greater than 90% significant in predicting theoretical air permeability.
The coefficient of determination (R2 ) for both models is also high, greater
than 97%. From Figure 4, both models 1 and 2 are excellent predictors of
the theoretical air permeability.

CONCLUSIONS

It has been shown that as the number of barbs on the needles increases
from 3 to 9 barbs, the theoretical air permeability decreases. This decrease in
air permeability for all fabric structures results from more entanglement
between fibers in the sample, thus leading to an increased packing density
and a more distorted flow channel.
Results show that increasing the number of glass and or ceramic web
layers causes a reduction in air permeability. However a larger drop in air
permeability is seen when the number of ceramic webs is increased than
when the number of glass webs is increased. When compared to the ceramic
webs, glass webs had lower thickness, lower variability in web thickness,
lower packing density, lower tortuosity, lower weight and higher fiber
diameter.

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56 M. MOHAMMADI ET AL.

These factors will generally cause a decrease in air permeability. Though

the expected decrease in air permeability was seen when the number of
ceramic layers was increased, a greater reduction can be expected when the
uniformity of web thickness is improved.
Statistical results showed that either a model using fabric thickness,
number of needle barbs and mean pore size or a model using fabric
thickness, number of needle barbs and fabric density is equally acceptable
for predicting the theoretical air permeability for the set samples.

LIST OF SYMBOLS

Qf ¼ the volume flow rate, cc/s

Kfp ¼ low permeability coefficient, m/s

p ¼ pressure difference, dynes/cm2
q ¼ apparent linear rate of flow, cm/s
L ¼ sample thickness, cm
" ¼ sample porosity
 ¼ fluid viscosity, centi-poise
s ¼ channel wetted surface, cm1
so ¼ specific surface area of a cylindrical particle, cm1
Ktfp ¼ theoretical flow permeability coefficient, m/s
ko ¼ shape factor
tf ¼ tortuosity factor
Le ¼ effective channel length, cm
R ¼ mean effective pore radius on the surface of the fabric, microns
d ¼ mean fiber diameter, microns
Vavff ¼ mean volume fraction of the sample
DP ¼ mean effective pore diameter, micron
kD ¼ Davies constant
qtp ¼ theoretical linear flow rate, cm/s
A ¼ sample cross-sectional area, cm2
mt ¼ total weight of the heterogeneous nonwoven material, g
¼ average density of the heterogeneous nonwoven material, g/cc
G ¼ density of the glass fiber web in the heterogeneous nonwoven
material, g/cc
C ¼ density of the ceramic fiber web in the heterogeneous
nonwoven material, g/cc
PG ¼ weight fraction of glass fiber web in the heterogeneous
nonwoven material
PC ¼ weight fraction of ceramic fiber web in the heterogeneous
nonwoven material

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 Air Permeability of Multilayered Nonwoven Fabrics 57

dG ¼ diameter of glass fiber, microns

dC ¼ diameter of ceramic fiber, microns
LG ¼ thickness of the glass fiber web in the sample, cm
LC ¼ thickness of the ceramic fiber web in the sample, cm
n ¼ number of glass layers
j ¼ number of ceramic layers

REFERENCES

1. Atkins, P.W. (1986). Physical Chemistry, 3rd Edn., W.H. Freeman, Co.,
New York.
2. Carman, P.G. (1956). Flow of Gases Through Porous Media, Butterworth
Scientific Pubications, London.
3. Davies, N.C. (1952). Proc. Inst. Mech. Engrs., Lond., Vol. 1B, pp. 185–198.
4. Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, (1978). 6th Edn., McGraw-Hill Book
Company, New York.
5. Hillel, A. (1980). Fundamentals of Soil Physics, Academic Press, New York.
6. Kozeny, J. (1927). Uber Kapillare Leitung des Wasser in Boden, Sitzungb,
Wiener Akad. Wissenschaft., 136 (2a): 271.
7. Piekaar, H.W. and Clarenburg, L.A. (1967). Chemical Engineering Science,
22: 1817–1827.
8. Piekaar, H.W. and Clarenburg, L.A. (1968). Chemical Engineering Science,
23: 765–771.
9. Scheidegger, A.E. (1957). The Physics of Flow through Porous Media, University
of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada.
10. Sullivan, R.R. (1924). Journal of Applied Physics, 13: 725.
11. Verschoor, D.J. and Greebler (1952). Trans. ASME, 74: 961.
12. Video Microscope Instrument, Southern Micro Instruments, Atlanta, GA,
30339.

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