Mechanisms of flow-induced deformation of porous media

Abstract

The study investigates creeping flow-induced alteration in the permeability of deformable particle systems. Low-Reynolds-number transversal flow through random arrays of aligned cylinders is considered by means of a combined methodology of directly solving the two-dimensional (2D) Stokes equations for the flow in the vicinity of two particles and minimising the dissipation rate in a system comprising thousands of particles. The results demonstrate that the more compact the system, the greater the possible relative change of permeability when a high flow rate is applied. The permeability of large random arrays always increases when increasing the flow rate, which is most apparent in compact systems with equal-sized particles. The permeability can sometimes decrease but only in structured or small systems.