Geometric characterisation of stochastic fibrous networks: A comprehensive review

Fibrous networks are porous materials that can have stochastic and uniform microstructures. Various fibrous networks can be found in nature (e.g., collagens, hydrogels, etc.) or manufactured (e.g., composites and nonwovens). This study focuses on the geometrical characterisation of stochastic fibrous networks with continuous fibres in a 2D domain, discussing their main relevant parameters: basis weight, orientation distribution function, crimp, porosity, spatial distribution of fibres (uniformity), and fibre intersections. The comprehensive review of the literature is combined with original results to understand the effect of the analysed parameters on various features of fibrous networks such as mechanical performance, filtration, insulation, etc.