A pore-scale numerical model for flow through porous media

• Published in: International journal for numerical and analytical methods in geomechanics Vol. 23; no. 9; pp. 881 - 904
• Main Authors: Zhu, Yi, Fox, Patrick J., Morris, Joseph P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 10.08.1999; Wiley
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Buildings. Public works; Computation methods. Tables. Charts; Darcy's law; Exact sciences and technology; flow through porous media; Geotechnics; hydraulic conductivity; numerical modelling; smoothed particle hydrodynamics; Structural analysis. Stresses; Water effect, drainage, ground water lowering, filtration; Viscosity; Darcy law; Square lattice; Porous medium; Hydrodynamics; Hydraulic conductivity; Result; Finite element method; Pore size; Low Reynolds number; Flow(fluid); Numerical simulation; Incompressible fluid; Comparative study; Ground water
• ISSN: 0363-9061; 1096-9853
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-9853(19990810)23:9<881::AID-NAG996>3.0.CO;2-K

A pore‐scale numerical model based on Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is described for modelling fluid flow phenomena in porous media. Originally developed for astrophysics applications, SPH is extended to model incompressible flows of low Reynolds number as encountered in groundwater flow systems. In this paper, an overview of SPH is provided and the required modifications for modelling flow through porous media are described, including treatment of viscosity, equation of state, and no‐slip boundary conditions. The performance of the model is demonstrated for two‐dimensional flow through idealized porous media composed of spatially periodic square and hexagonal arrays of cylinders. The results are in close agreement with solutions obtained using the finite element method and published solutions in the literature. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.