Thermodynamics of porous media

Abstract

Abstract Equilibrium thermodynamics for porous media is considered with special emphasis on its basis in pore-scale thermodynamics. It is shown that porosity, the new purely macroscopic variable, enters the relations on the same footing as mass densities and the strain tensors. Biot’s use of elastic energy potential, which lies at the foundation of his theory of poroelasticity, is examined in light of the results obtained here.