The absolute gas permeability of several common gas diffusion layer (GDL) materials for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells was measured. Measurements were made in three perpendicular directions to investigate anisotropic properties. Most materials were found to display higher in-plane permeability than through-plane permeability. The permeability in the two perpendicular in-plane directions was found to display significant anisotropy. Materials with the most highly aligned fibers showed the highest anisotropy and the permeability could differ by as much as a factor of 2. In-plane permeability was also measured as the GDL was compressed to different thicknesses. Typically, compression of a sample to half its initial thickness resulted in a decrease in permeability by an order of magnitude. Since the change in GDL thickness during compression can be converted to porosity, the relationship between measured permeability and porosity was compared to various models available in the literature, one of which allows the estimation of anisotropic tortuosity. The effect of inertia on fluid flow was also determined and found to vary inversely with permeability, in agreement with available correlations. The results of this work will be useful for 3D modeling studies where knowledge of permeability and effective diffusivity tensors is required. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.