Pore-scale Modelling of Capillarity in Swelling Granular Materials

Abstract:

Capillarity in granular porous media is a common and important phenomenon in earth materials and industrial products, and therefore has been studied extensively. To model capillarity in granular porous media, one needs to go beyond current models which simulate either two-phase flow in porous media or mechanical behaviour in granular media. Current pore-scale models for two-phase flow such as pore-network models are tailored for rigid pore-skeletons, even though in many applications, namely hydro-mechanical coupling in soils, printing, and hygienic products, the porous structure does change during two-phase flow. On the other hand, models such as Discrete Element Method (DEM), which simulate the deformable porous media, have mostly been employed for dry or saturated granular media.

Here, the effects of porosity change and swelling on the retention properties was studied, for swelling granular materials. A pore-unit model that was capable to construct the capillary pressure – saturation curve was coupled to DEM. Such that the capillary pressure – saturation curve could be constructed for varying porosities and amounts of absorbed water. The study material was super absorbent polymer particles, which are capable to absorb water 10’s to 200 times their initial weight. We have simulated quasi-static primary imbibition for different porosities and amounts of absorbed water. The results reveal a 3 dimensional surface between capillary pressure, saturation, and porosity, which can be normalized by means of the entry pressure and the effective water saturation to a unique curve.