Computer simulation of the effect of deformation on the morphology and flow properties of porous media

Sahar Bakhshian and Muhammad Sahimi
Phys. Rev. E 94, 042903 – Published 24 October 2016

Abstract

We report on the results of extensive computer simulation of the effect of deformation on the morphology of a porous medium and its fluid flow properties. The porous medium is represented by packings of spherical particles. Both random and regular as well as dense and nondense packings are used. A quasistatic model based on Hertz's contact theory is used to model the mechanical deformation of the packings, while the evolution of the permeability with the deformation is computed by the lattice-Boltzmann approach. The evolution of the pore-size and pore-length distributions, the porosity, the particles' contacts, the permeability, and the distribution of the stresses that the fluid exerts in the pore space are all studied in detail. The distribution of the pores' lengths, the porosity, and the particles' connectivity change strongly with the application of an external strain to the porous media, whereas the pore-size distribution is not affected as strongly. The permeability of the porous media strongly reduces even when the applied strain is small. When the permeabilities and porosities of the random packings are normalized with respect to their predeformation values, they all collapse onto a single curve, independent of the particle-size distribution. The porosity reduces as a power law with the external strain. The fluid stresses in the pore space follow roughly a log-normal distribution, both before and after deformation.

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  • Received 15 March 2016
  • Revised 5 August 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.94.042903

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Fluid Dynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Sahar Bakhshian and Muhammad Sahimi*

  • Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-1211, USA

  • *moe@usc.edu

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Issue

Vol. 94, Iss. 4 — October 2016

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