The initial stage of liquid absorption in unsaturated nonwoven fabrics (e.g. dry wipes, absorbent materials and hygiene products) is an unsteady-state fluid flow. For the purpose of the engineering design of these nonwoven products, there is a need to predict the unsteady-state fluid flow in both homogeneous anisotropic nonwoven structures and heterogeneous patterned nonwoven fabrics having a dual-scale porosity structure. In this paper, the unsteady-state liquid wicking in homogeneous anisotropic nonwoven fabric structure has been modeled, and the relationship between unsteady-state liquid absorption in patterned nonwoven fabrics and its structural parameters has been established based on the fabric structural parameters.
Mao, N., and Russell, S.J., Directional Permeability of Homogeneous Anisotropic Nonwoven Structures, Part I: the Relationship between Directional Permeability and Fiber Orientation , J. Textile Inst. 91(2), 235-243 (2000).
2.
Mao, N., and Russell, S.J., Directional Permeability of Homogeneous Anisotropic Nonwoven Structures, Part II: Permeability in Idealised Structure, J. Textile Inst . 91(2), 244-258 (2000).
3.
Mao, N., and Russell, S.J., Modeling Permeability in Homogeneous Three-dimensional Nonwoven Fabrics , Textile Res. J. 73(11), 939-944 ( 2003).
4.
Mao, N., Permeability in Engineered Nonwoven Fabrics having Patterned Structures , Textile Res. J. (in press).
5.
Landeryou, M. , Eames, I., and Cottenden, A., Infiltration into Inclined Fibrous Sheets , J. Fluid Mech. 529, 173-193 (2005).
6.
Ciegis, R., and Zemitis, A., The Mathematical Simulation of the Liquid Transport in a Multilayered Nonwoven , MMCA-97 Conference, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius, Lithuania, pp. 9-34 (1997).
7.
Landeryou, M.A. , Yerworth, R.J., and Cottenden , A.M., Mapping Liquid Distribution in Absorbent Incontinence Products, Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. H217(4), 253-261 ( 2003).
8.
Richards, L.A. , Capillary Conduction of Liquids through Porous Medium, Physics1, 318-333 (1931).
9.
Bruce, R.R., and Klute, A., The Measurement of Soil Moisture Diffusivity, SoilSci. Soc. Am. Proc. 20, 458-462 (1956).
10.
Brutsaert, W., The Adaptability of an Exact Solution to Horizontal Infiltration, Water Resour. Res. 4, 785-789 (1968).
11.
Scheidegger, A.E., "The Physics of Flow through Porous Media,"University of Toronto Press, Toronto , Canada (1974).
12.
Brooks, R.H. , and Corey, A.T., Properties of Porous Media Affecting Fluid Flow, J. Irrig. Drain. Div. 6, 61-88 ( 1966).
13.
Gardner, W.R. , Some Steady State Solutions of the Unsaturated Moisture Flow Equations with Application to Evaporation from a Water Table , Soil Sci. 85, 228-232 (1958).
14.
Russo, D., Determining Soil Hydraulic-properties by Parameter-estimation - on the Selection of a Model for the Hydraulic-properties, Water Resour. Res . 24, 453-459 (1988).
15.
Li, K., Generalised Capillary Pressure and Relative Permeability Model Inferred from Fractal Characterisation of Porous Media, SPE Technical Conference and Exhibition, Huston, Texas, USA, pp. 26-29 ( 2004).
16.
Li, K., and Horne, R.N., An Experimental and Theoretical Study of Steam-water Capillary Pressure , SPEREE4(6), 477- 482 ( 2001).
17.
Mao, N. and Russell, S.T., Capilary pressure and liquid wicking in three-deminsional nonwoven materiels , Journal Applied Physics, 104(3), 034911.1-9 ( 2008).
18.
Gerke, H.H. , and van Genuchten , M.T. , Evaluation of a First-order Water Transfer Term for Variably Saturated Dual-porosity Flow Models, Water Resour. Res. 29(4), 1225-1238 (1993 ).
19.
Šimůnek, J., Jarvis , N.J., van Genuchten , M.T., and Gärdenäs, A., Review and Comparison of Models for Describing Non-equilibrium and Preferential Flow and Transport in the Vadose Zone, J. Hydrol . 272, 14-35 (2003).
20.
Gerke, H.H. , and van Genuchten , M.T., Macroscopic Representation of Structural Geometry for Simulating Water and Solute Movement in Dual-porosity Media, Adv. Water Resour. 19(6), 343-357 (1996).
21.
van Genuchten, M.T., A Closed-form Equation for Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of Unsaturated Soils, SoilSci. Soc. Am. J. 44, 892-898 (1980).
