A Grain-Scale Study of Swelling Composite Porous Media Made of Fibres and Particles

A numerical study based on the discrete element method (DEM) is presented for the characterization of morphological properties of absorbent hygiene products (AHP) relevant to their performance. The model was developed in YADE, an open source software focused on DEM. The simulations reproduce the samples as they were granular beds. The code allows an easily tuning of relevant numerical and physical parameters. A series of preliminary estimations has been necessary to faithfully represent a realistic AHP sample. The results of the DEM computational experiments have been compared to the values obtained from physical experiments reported in literature.