In-silico simulation of porous media: Conception and development of a greedy algorithm

Abstract

Cubic porous networks consisting of several millions of voids of different sizes are efficiently simulated through a greedy algorithm. The porous network is built on the basis of the Dual Site-Bond Model in which a cavity (site) is always larger than any of its delimiting throats (bonds). When the initial configuration of the cubic network is established by means of a random (Monte Carlo) seeding on a lattice of sites and bonds, the proper allocation of more pore elements becomes troublesome and time-consuming, and there even exists the chance of not achieving a valid pore network. The complexity of this pioneering Monte Carlo algorithm, in the best case, increases according to the third power of the number of pore elements and, in the worst case is asymptotic to infinity. Here, we have succeeded in the development of an smart non-mistake initial seeding situation of sites and bonds that behaves in the way of a greedy algorithm. An initial ordering of sites according to their sizes allows a proper assemblage of these hollows throughout the cubic lattice. From this configuration, the pore network evolves toward the most probable one by a series of legitimate random swappings between sites and bonds. The complexity of the greedy algorithm remained proportional to the cubic power of the total number of sites. In general the execution time of the greedy algorithm results to be faster than that employed with the previous Monte Carlo algorithm.