Multiscale Structures to Describe Porous Media Part II: Transport Properties and Application to Test Materials

A renormalization method for the computation of the transport properties of a porous medium modelled as a multiscale random network is proposed. The method applies to electrical conduction, molecular diffusion, hydraulic transport under low Reynolds number, transport of condensable vapour, in the medium fully or partially saturated by one or two immiscible fluids. For 31 test materials, the method previously exposed by the authors for the reconstitution of the pore structure from the mercury intrusion curve is applied. Then, the intrinsic permeability is computed. The results are in good agreement with the measured permeability.     

Technical Notes on Volume Averaging in Porous Media I: How to Choose a Spatial Averaging Operator for Periodic and Quasiperiodic Structures

This paper is a first of a series aiming at revisiting technical aspects of the volume averaging theory. Here, we discuss the choice of the spatial averaging operator for periodic and quasiperiodic structures. We show that spatial averaging must be defined in terms of a convolution and analyze the properties of a variety of kernels, with a particular focus on the smoothness of average fields, the ability to attenuate geometrical fluctuations, Taylor series expansions, averaging of periodic fields and resilience to perturbations of periodicity. We conclude with a set of recommendations regarding kernels to use in the volume averaging theory.     

Validation of the Slow Compressional Wave in Porous Media: Comparison of Experiments and Numerical Simulations

We perform numerical simulation of ultrasonic experiments on poroelastic samples, in which Biot's slow compressional wave had been observed. The simulation is performed using OASES modeling code, which allows to compute elastic wave fields in layered poroelastic media. Modeled were the experiments of Plona (1980), Rasolofosaon (1988), and our own measurements. In all the three situations, a good agreement between experiment and simulations has been observed. This further confirms the fact that Biot's theory of poroelasticity, on which the simulations were based, adequately describes the behavior of the porous materials under investigations at ultrasonic frequencies.     

Heat,Water, and Solution Transfer in Unsaturated Porous Media: I -- Theory Development and Transport Coefficient Evaluation

A detailed theory describing the simultaneous transfer of heat, water, and solute in unsaturated porous mediais developed. The theory includes three fully-coupledpartial differential equations. Heat, water, andsolute move in the presence of temperature, T; matricpressure head, _m ; solution osmotic pressure head _o ; and solute concentration C gradients. Thetheory can be applied to describe the mass and energyin radioactive waste repositories, food processing,underground energy storage sites, buried electriccables positions, waste disposal sites, and inagricultural soil. Several transport coefficients forheat, water, and solute are included in the theory. The coefficients are evaluated for a silty clay loamsoil to clarify their dependence on water content (),T, and C. The thermal vapor diffusivity D _Tv first increased as increased to0.22 m³/m³ then decreased with furtherincreases in . D _Tv was 3 orders of magnitudegreater than either isothermal vapor D _mv orosmotic vapor D _ov , diffusivities at of0.20~m³/m³, T of 50°C, and C of 0.001mol/kg. All of the liquid and vapor water transport coefficients increased with increasing T. D _Tv decreased with increasing C to a greater extent thanD _mv and D _ov . The effective thermalconductivity decreased slightly with increasing C. Thesolute diffusion coefficient D _d was 6 to 7orders of magnitude greater than the thermal soluteand salt sieving diffusion coefficients at of0.20~m³/m³, T of 50°C, and C of 0.001 mol/kg.     

Achieving Rapid Absorption and Extensive Liquid Uptake Capacity in Porous Structures by Decoupling Capillarity and Permeability: Nanoporous Modified Calcium Carbonate

Porous media with rapid absorption properties are greatly sought after in the fields of super absorbers and catalysts. Natural materials, such as diatomite, or synthetic zeolite feature strongly in industrial reaction processes. Most, or all, of such materials, however, are surface acidic. A novel rapidly absorbing alkaline porous structure, with a high absorption capacity, is presented here. As in the case of diatomite or zeolite, the pigment design incorporates strong capillarity within a highly permeable packed medium. A model is proposed for general use with highly absorbing media that can be proven microscopically to have separate domains of micro- or nano-capillarity embedded within a permeable matrix. The new pigment morphology, based on natural ground calcium carbonate (gcc), exhibits this property using special surface structure modifications. It is contrasted with standard gcc by using consolidated tablet blocks made from a suspension of the pigment and chosen mixtures thereof. The blocks are characterised after drying by mercury porosimetry, and the absorption dynamic of a selected liquid is studied. It is shown that using a self-assembly method of discrete pore structures provides a much faster absorption rate and a liquid capacity for up to 10 times more fluid than a conventional homogeneously distributed pore concept. In such unique discrete network systems, the mercury intrusion curve provides a separable analysis of permeability and capillarity in respect to the inflection point of the cumulative intrusion curve. The discrete decoupled properties each follow the absorption behaviour predicted by previous modelling (Ridgway and Gane, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 206(1–3), 2002). The absorption driving force is shown to be determined by the proportion of fine pores present up to a size equal to a Bosanquet inertially-defined optimum within the timescale of absorption. Combining the wetting force, from the capillarity-controlled fine pore structure, with the experimental flow resistance of the sample, consisting of the assembly of particles, it is possible to predict the trends in absorption dynamic using the pore and throat model Pore-Cor.* Use of this model allows existing materials as well as new synthetic designs to be modelled prior to manufacture. The novel alkaline material is compared with independent absorption data for diatomite and shown to be comparable. *Pore-Cor is a software product name of the Environmental and Fluid Modelling Group, University of Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA, U.K.     

Multi-scale defect interactions in high-rate brittle material failure. Part I: Model formulation and application to ALON

Within this two part series we develop a new material model for ceramic protection materials to provide an interface between microstructural parameters and bulk continuum behavior to provide guidance for materials design activities. Part I of this series focuses on the model formulation that captures the strength variability and strain rate sensitivity of brittle materials and presents a statistical approach to assigning the local flaw distribution within a specimen. The material model incorporates a Mie–Grüneisen equation of state, micromechanics based damage growth, granular flow and dilatation of the highly damaged material, and pore compaction for the porosity introduced by granular flow. To provide initial qualitative validation and illustrate the usefulness of the model, we use the model to investigate Edge on Impact experiments (Strassburger, 2004) on Aluminum Oxynitride (AlON), and discuss the interactions of multiple mechanisms during such an impact event. Part II of this series is focused on additional qualitative validation and using the model to suggest material design directions for boron carbide.     

Improved averaging method for turbulent flow simulation. Part I: Theoretical development and application to Burgers' transport equation

This is the first of two articles intended to develop, apply and verify a new method for averaging the momentum and mass transport equations for turbulence. The new method is based on Gaussian filtering in both the spatial and temporal domains. Application is made to the problem of momentum and scalar transport in a one-dimensional transient Burgers' flow field. No actual calculations, with the averaged equations, are presented in this paper. However, an ‘exact’ solution of the one-dimensional flow situation is presented as an economical tool for verifying the performance of the different turbulence models. In the second paper calculations are performed with the averaged one-dimensional equations on coarse grids, and the results are compared to the exact or fully simulated data with a statistical verification procedure.