Homogenization approach to filtration through a fibrous medium

We study the flow through fibrous media using homogenization techniques. The fibre network under study is the one already used by M. Briane in the context of heat conduction of biological tissues. We derive and justify the effective Darcy equation and the permeability tensor for such fibrous media. The theoretical results on the permeability are illustrated by some numerical simulations. Finally, the low solid fraction limit is considered. Applying results by G. Allaire to our setting, we justify rigorously the leading order term in the empirical formulas for the effective permeability used in engineering. The results are also confirmed by a direct numerical calculation of the permeability, in which the small diameter of the fibres requires high accuracy approximations.