Permeability Prediction of Saturated Geomaterials with Revised Pore–Solid Fractal Model and Critical Path Analysis

Abstract

The revised pore–solid fractal (PSF) model is presented by using the largest inscribed circle-based geometries of squares or cubes to replace the original pore or solid subregions as the new pore or solid phase in porous media. The revised PSF model changes the discrete lacunar pore and solid phases in the original PSF model to integrated. Permeability is an intrinsic property of geomaterials and has broad applications in exploring fluid flow and species transport. Based on the revised PSF model and critical path analysis, a fractal model for predicting the permeability of saturated geomaterials is proposed. The permeability prediction model is verified by comparison with the existing predicted model and the laboratory testing. The results show that the predicted permeabilities match the measured values very well. This work provides a theoretical framework for the revised PSF model and its application in predicting the permeability of geomaterials.