Pore structure and effective permeability of metallic filters

Abstract

The pore structures (microstructures) of two metallic filters were reconstructed using the stochastic reconstruction method based on simulated annealing. The following microstructural descriptors were included in the description of the real microstructures: the two-point probability function, the lineal-path functions for the void or solid phases, i.e. simulated annealing was constrained by all low-order statistical measures that were accessible through the analysis of images of polished sections. An effect of the microstructural descriptors on the course of reconstruction was controlled by modifying two parameters of the reconstruction procedure [1]. Their values resulted from repeated reconstruction of two-dimensional microstructures in such a way that the reference (experimental) and calculated two-point cluster functions deviated negligibly. It was tacitly assumed that the parameters adjusted during two-dimensional reconstruction had the same influence on the formation of the three-dimensional microstructures. Since connectivity of phases is a critical property of the stochastically reconstructed media, clusters of pore and solid voxels were determined using the Hoshen-Kopelman algorithm. It was found that the solid phase formed one large cluster in accordance with the physical feasibility. The void phase created one large cluster and a few small clusters representing the isolated porosity. The percolation properties were further characterised using the local porosity theory [2]. Effective permeability of the replicas was estimated by solving the Stokes equation for creeping flow of an incompressible liquid in pore space. Calculated permeability values matched well their experimental counterparts.