Complex Flows In Porous Media

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Abstract

Fluid flows in porous materials are ubiquitous in natural, industrial and biological settings. These range from relatively simple flows through homogeneous media with uniform and well-characterized properties to very complex flows in strongly heterogeneous media, or in reactive and/or deformable porous media in which the thermochemistry of the fluid and the dynamics of the flow can significantly alter the properties of the media which in turn then further complicate the flow. Three such complex flows form the scientific basis for this proposal. The first, a materials science application, arises during the solidification of a ternary alloy. Here the porous medium is made up of dendritic crystals that solidify or melt depending on local thermodynamic conditions of the interstitial fluid. The fluid flow and solidification processes are tightly coupled in this reactive porous medium. The second project arises in response to interest by environmental scientists in developing strategies for the removal or containment of groundwater contaminants in nonhomogeneous porous media. The proposed work addresses gravity-driven flow through spatially nonuniform porous media using asymptotic homogenization methods in order to identify effective media properties which characterize a relatively complex porous media by a much simpler description. The third project involves fluid flow through a porous medium whose porous matrix can be deformed by the fluid moving through it. Such flows appear in soils, in tissues, organs and tumors in the human body and in industrial applications such as injection molding, filtration and inkjet printing. The proposed work attempts to extend mathematical modeling tools for inkjet printing technology and to connect these ideas to other application areas. The proposed research is of an interdisciplinary nature that through the use of applied mathematical techniques addresses directly problems in materials processing, environmental science and industrial printing technologies. Applications impacted directly by this research include industrial alloy processing, strategies for the removal or containment of groundwater contaminants and related environmental hazards, and flows arising during industrial applications such as inkjet printing. This work may indirectly impact the understanding of geophysical flows that occur in the earth's core or during the formation and melting of sea ice, other industrial applications such as injection molding and filtration, and biological applications involving the transport of fluid in tissues, organs and tumors in the human body. The work proposed by the PI at George Mason University will involve collaboration with researchers at the University of Tennessee, the University of North Carolina as well as with researchers in the United Kingdom and at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.