Calculating the permeability of model paper coating structures comprising incongruent particle shapes and sizes

In this paper, the disciplines of experimental research and computational science are conjoined with an objective geared towards an improved understanding of permeability in porous coatings. Three packing structures were considered, each one comprising a distribution with particles of similar shape. Models were built to mimic the experimental structures and then used for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations as well as statistical analyses. Calculations of permeability are reported to within one order of magnitude of the experimental equivalents. A correlation is found to exist between statistical pore space disorder and the variation of permeability within the same packing microstructure.