Estimation of large domain Al foam permeability by Finite Difference methods

Classical methods to calculate permeability of porous media have been proposed mainly for high density (e.g. granular) materials -- These methods present shortcomings in high porosity, i.e. high permeability media (e.g. metallic foams) -- While for dense materials permeability seems to be a function of bulk properties and occupancy averaged over the volume, for highly porous materials these parameters fail to predict it -- Several authors have attacked the problem by solving the Navier-Stokes equations for the pressure and velocity of a liquid flowing through a small domain (Ωs) of aluminium foam and by comparing the numerical results with experimental values (prediction error approx. 9%) -- In this article, we present calculations for much larger domains (ΩL) using the Finite Difference (FD) method, solving also for the pressure and velocity of a viscous liquid flowing through the Packed Spheres scenario -- The ratio Vol(ΩL)/Vol(Ωs) is around 103 -- The comparison of our results with the Packed Spheres example yields a prediction error of 5% for the intrinsic permeability -- Additionally, numerical permeability calculations have been performed for Al foam samples -- Our geometric modelling of the porous domain stems from 3D X-ray tomography, yielding voxel information, which is particularly appropriate for FD -- Ongoing work concerns the reduction in computing times of the FD method, consideration of other materials and fluids, and comparison with experimental data

• Autores: Osorno, María; Steeb, Holger; Uribe, David; Ruíz, Óscar
• Fecha de publicación: 2013
• Institución: Universidad EAFIT
• Repositorio: Repositorio EAFIT
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:repository.eafit.edu.co:10784/9667
• Acceso en línea: http://hdl.handle.net/10784/9667
• Palabra clave: ECUACIONES DE NAVIER - STOKES; PROCESOS ESTOCÁSTICOS; MÉTODO DE ELEMENTOS FINITOS; TOMOGRAFÍA COMPUTARIZADA POR RAYOS X; POROSIDAD; PERMEABILIDAD; CÁLCULO NUMÉRICO; LEY DE DARCY; ANÁLISIS MATEMÁTICO; Navier-stokes equations; Stochastic processes; Finite element method; Tomography, X-ray computed; Porosity; Permeability; Numerical calculations; Darcy's law; Mathematical analysis; Navier-stokes equations; Stochastic processes; Finite element method; Tomography; X-ray computed; Porosity; Permeability; Numerical calculations; Darcy's law; Mathematical analysis; Modelado geométrico; Ecuación de Boltzmann
• License: Acceso cerrado