Numerical characterisation of uniformity of fibrous networks

Basis weight uniformity can affect various properties of fibrous porous networks, including their porosity and mechanical behaviour. In this paper, a novel numerical technique based on the well-known quadrant analysis method is introduced to statistically quantify the uniformity of fibrous porous networks in the computer environment. First, four fibrous porous networks with different uniformity levels were generated with the in-house script. Then, uniformity was computed numerically based on basis weight analysis for various quadrant sizes for these fibrous porous networks. Uniformity parameter commonly used for quality control purposes turns into design parameter that can be used to optimise the microstructure of fibrous porous networks before manufacturing them with the developed algorithm.