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Capillary and viscous fracturing during drainage in porous media

Francisco J. Carrillo and Ian C. Bourg
Phys. Rev. E 103, 063106 – Published 15 June 2021
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Abstract

Detailed understanding of the couplings between fluid flow and solid deformation in porous media is crucial for the development of novel technologies relating to a wide range of geological and biological processes. A particularly challenging phenomenon that emerges from these couplings is the transition from fluid invasion to fracturing during multiphase flow. Previous studies have shown that this transition is highly sensitive to fluid flow rate, capillarity, and the structural properties of the porous medium. However, a comprehensive characterization of the relevant fluid flow and material failure regimes does not exist. Here, we used our newly developed multiphase Darcy-Brinkman-Biot framework to examine the transition from drainage to material failure during viscously stable multiphase flow in soft porous media in a broad range of flow, wettability, and solid rheology conditions. We demonstrate the existence of three distinct material failure regimes controlled by nondimensional numbers that quantify the balance of viscous, capillary, and structural forces in the porous medium, in agreement with previous experiments and granular simulations. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to effectively decouple the effects of viscous and capillary forces on fracturing mechanics. Last, we examine the effects of consolidation or compaction on said dimensional numbers and the system's propensity to fracture.

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  • Received 12 November 2020
  • Revised 24 May 2021
  • Accepted 24 May 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.103.063106

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft Matter

Authors & Affiliations

Francisco J. Carrillo*

  • Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

Ian C. Bourg

  • Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA and High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

  • *https://github.com/Franjcf
  • http://bourg.princeton.edu

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Issue

Vol. 103, Iss. 6 — June 2021

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