Straining to find the permeability

Abstract

Characterizing fluid flow in a porous and permeable material is fundamental to energy and hydrological applications, yet direct measurements of permeability are very difficult to conduct in situ. However, attending fluid flow through a material are various mechanical responses, e.g., strain fields and acoustic emissions, and these mechanical responses may hold important clues to the fluid flow in the material, specifically the permeability. Here we report results from a numerical study of fluid flow through a channel, defined by confining side blocks, that contains a particle bed. For a range of inlet velocities, we study the strain and acoustic emission in the confining side blocks. The simulations are repeated for different configurations of the particle bed. We find a one-to-one correspondence between strain and acoustic emission and the quantities that determine the permeability. Thus, strain and acoustic emission may serve as ingredients in an unconventional scheme for remote monitoring to learn the permeability.