Two-dimensional Heterogeneous Media Research Articles

Asymptotic behavior of the capacity in two-dimensional heterogeneous media

We describe the asymptotic behavior of the minimal inhomogeneous two-capacity of small sets in the plane with respect to a fixed open set \Omega . This problem is governed by two small parameters: \varepsilon , the size of the inclusion (which is not restrictive to assume to be a ball), and \delta , the period of the inhomogeneity modeled by oscillating coefficients. We show that this capacity behaves as C|{\log\varepsilon}|^{-1} . The coefficient C is explicitly computed from the minimum of the oscillating coefficient and the determinant of the corresponding homogenized matrix, through a harmonic mean with a proportion depending on the asymptotic behavior of |{\log\delta}|/|{\log\varepsilon}| .

Transient dispersion regimes in heterogeneous porous media: On the impact of spatial heterogeneity in permeability and exchange kinetics in mobile–immobile transport

Transport processes in the subsurface are coupled with the heterogeneity of the porous structure. Obtaining an accurate description of mass transport in such media at all time scales remains a crucial task, as the subsurface is strongly impacted by human activity. Spreading of pollutants in the transient but also in the asymptotic regime, as well as the time to reach a critical location (e.g. aquifer, well) significantly depend on the underlying heterogeneity of the permeability field. Moreover, in the case of solute retention, transport is also characterized by local exchange kinetics that depend on the local aquifer properties. Consequently, exchange (retention) times are expected to be spatially heterogeneous. In this work we focus on the influence of spatially heterogeneous permeability and exchange times on the transient and asymptotic transport regimes and provide a parametric study. To this goal, we simulate in a first part the transport in a two-dimensional heterogeneous medium under spatially varying permeability and mobile–immobile mass transfer parameters. Equations are solved using a Lattice-Boltzmann two-relaxation-time (TRT) algorithm. We assume the following relation between the local permeability K and the local exchange time: τ∝Kγ. Taking into account this relation, we investigate the impact of the Damköhler number (Da, ratio of the advection and exchange time scales), the disorder of the permeability field and the value of the exponent of the coupling function (γ) on the spatial evolution of the concentration field and breakthrough curve. We show that, depending on the parameters (Da, γ, etc.), we can observe transient, non-Fickian dispersion, which is characterized by non-exponential tails of the solute breakthrough curves and a non-linear evolution of the spatial variance of the solute distribution.In a second part, we present a new continuous time random walk (CTRW) model to upscale these transport behaviors. The model is based on a spatial Markov model for particle velocities that couples advective–dispersive transport and heterogeneous mass transfer through a compound Poisson process. The upscaled model can be fully parameterized by the statistics of permeability and the hydraulic gradient (with no fitting parameter), that is, in terms of medium and flow characteristics. The results of the CTRW model fully capture the non-Fickian transient transport regimes both for the breakthrough curves and spatial concentration variance. In the longtime limit, as expected from the central limit theorem, the CTRW model predicts normal, Fickian behavior. Finally we show, that the time to reach the asymptotic regimes in heterogeneous media (e.g. heterogeneous exchange times) is parameter dependent and in average is two orders of magnitude larger than for the respective homogeneous case. To summarize, the coupling between the heterogeneous permeability field and the local mass transfer properties can strongly influence transient and asymptotic transport regimes and potentially explain experimentally observed non-Gaussian behaviors.

Estimation of Spatially Distributed Thermal Properties of Heterogeneous Media with Non-Intrusive Measurement

This article deals with estimation of spatially distributed thermal properties of two-dimensional heterogeneous media from the solution of inverse heat conduction problem. The experimental procedure involves sequential heating of sample at four discrete locations on one side and recording transient temperature on the other side non-intrusively. The inverse problem formulation is carried out as parameter estimation problem and the unknown parameters are estimated through minimization of sum of squared error between measured and simulated temperatures using Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm. The huge computational time required to calculate sensitivity matrix is reduced through parallel computation strategy. Numerical estimations are carried out with synthetic temperature and it is found that the resolution and accuracy of estimated spatially distributed thermal conductivity is in better agreement with the exact distribution when compared to volumetric heat capacity even at an error level of ± 0.1 K. Transient temperature response of the fabricated heterogeneous prototype is recorded using infrared radiation camera and the same is used for estimation of unknown parameters. The estimated thermal conductivity closely mimics the actual distribution. Therefore, this simple proposed method can be directly used in thermal tomography applications for identifying the shape and size of inclusions/inhomogeneities from the estimated thermal conductivity distribution alone.

Singular functions for heterogeneous composites with cracks and notches; the use of equilibrated singular basis functions

In this paper a novel method is presented to solve problems with weak singularities in two-dimensional heterogeneous media using equilibrated singular basis functions. This especially includes crack problems in composites of functionally graded material types. The method is mainly presented in a boundary formulation, although it may be found quite useful in other mesh-based or mesh-less approaches as the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM). The present paper considers harmonic and elasticity problems. The most distinguished advantage of the present method is that the solution progress advances without absolutely any knowledge of the analytical singularity order of the problem. To this end the partial differential equation of the problem is approximately satisfied in a weighted residual approach. After developing the formulation in a mapped polar co-ordination, some primary basis functions generated from Chebyshev polynomials and trigonometric functions, along with corresponding weight functions are employed. The numerical examples, either selected from the well-known literature or solved by well-established techniques, will demonstrate the capability of the method in problems related to composite materials.

Coupled continuous-time random walks for fluid stretching in two-dimensional heterogeneous media.

We study the relation between flow structure and fluid deformation in steady flows through two-dimensional heterogeneous media, which are characterized by a broad spectrum of stretching behaviors, ranging from sub- to superlinear. We analyze these behaviors from first principles, which uncovers intermittent shear events to be at the origin of subexponential stretching. We derive explicit expressions for Lagrangian deformation and demonstrate that stretching obeys a coupled continuous-time random walk, which for broad distributions of flow velocities becomes a Lévy walk. The derived model provides a direct link between the flow and deformation statistics, and a natural way to quantify the impact of intermittent shear events on the stretching behavior.

The Boundaries Influence in Trending Hydraulic Conductivity Fields

We analyze the impact of the boundary conditions on flow and transport solutions for the case of a two-dimensional heterogeneous medium with a linear trend in the mean log-conductivity. The influence of the boundaries is analyzed for different values of the domain size and aspect ratio, and different directions of the trend respect to the mean flow direction. The analysis involving a steady, spatially nonstationary velocity field, is developed by using the stochastic finite element method. Results of this study show that the impact of the trend in finite domains may disagree with that obtained in unbounded domains and it is more complex. The trend alters the result obtained for the medium with stationary conductivity, leading to a larger or smaller value of the macrodispersion coefficients, depending on the size and aspect ratio of the domain, and this effect may vary with the travel distance from the solute source. Moreover in limited domains here analyzed also for particles starting at distance of several integral scales from the boundaries and traveling in the middle of the domain, the behavior of macrodispersion coefficients is affected by the boundary conditions and the influence of the trend on longitudinal and transverse macrodispersion coefficients may vary with the imposed constraints.

Infinite Maxwell fisheye inside a finite circle

This manuscript proposes a two-dimensional heterogeneous imaging medium composed of an isotropic refractive index. We exploit conformal-mapping to transfer the full Maxwell fisheye into a finite circle. Unlike our previous design that requires a mirror of Zhukovski airfoil shape, this approach can work without a mirror, while offering a comparable imaging resolution. This medium may also be used as an isotropic gradient index lens to transform a light source inside it into two identical sources of null interference. A merit of this approach is reduction of the near-zero-index area from an infinite zone into a finite one, which shall ease its realization.

Time-dependent ion transport in heterogeneous permselective systems.

The current study extends previous analytical and numerical solutions of chronopotentiometric response of one-dimensional systems consisting of three layers to the more realistic two-dimensional (2D) heterogeneous ion-permselective medium. An analytical solution for the transient concentration-polarization problem, under the local electroneutrality approximation and assumption of ideal permselectivity, was obtained using the Laplace transform and separation of variables technique. Then the 2D electric potential was obtained numerically and was compared to the full Poisson-Nernst-Planck solution. It was then shown that the resultant voltage drop across the system varies between the initial Ohmic response and that of the steady state accounting for concentration polarization. Also, the field-focusing effect in a 2D system is shown to result in a faster depletion of ions at the permselective interface.

Transverse Mixing in Heterogeneous Aquifers

Transverse mixing by local-scale dispersion plays a pivotal role in mixing-controlled reactions of continuously injected compounds and controls the length of steady-state plumes. In two-dimensional heterogeneous media, high-permeability inclusions cause a net enhancement of transverse mixing because the effect of reducing the transverse diffusion lengths in such inclusions prevails over the effect of reduced diffusion time. A simple scaling law for effective transverse mixing in two-dimensional domains could be derived by transferring the steady-state transport equation into streamline-coordinates. The net enhancement factor does not depend on scale. Closed-form expressions for effective mixing and its uncertainty could be derived for uniform-in-the-mean velocity in a multi-Gaussian log-conductivity field with isotropic, exponential covariance function. These expressions could be used to estimate the uncertainty of steady-state concentrations and reactive-plume lengths. The picture is more complex in three-dimensional domains where spatially variable orientation of anisotropy can lead to twisting streamlines. Macroscopically helical flow can lead to an enhancement of transverse mixing by about an order of magnitude more than the flow-focusing effects in two-dimensional flows.

Hydraulic non-equilibrium during infiltration induced by structural connectivity

Water infiltration into heterogeneous, structured soil leads to hydraulic non-equilibrium across the infiltration front. That is, the water content and pressure head are not in equilibrium according to some static water retention curve. The water content increases more rapidly in more conductive regions followed by a slow relaxation towards an equilibrium state behind the front. An extreme case is preferential infiltration into macropores.Since flow paths adapt to the structural heterogeneity of the porous medium, there is a direct link between structure and non-equilibrium. The aim of our study is to develop an upscaled description of water dynamics which conserves the macroscopic effects of non-equilibrium and which can be directly linked to structural properties of the material. A critical question is how to define averaged state variables at the larger scale. We propose a novel approach based on flux-weighted averaging of pressure head, and compare its performance to alternative methods for averaging. Further, we suggest some meaningful indicators of hydraulic non-equilibrium that can be related to morphological characteristics of infiltration fronts in quantitative terms. These methods provide a sound basis to assess the impact of structural connectivity on hydraulic non-equilibrium.We demonstrate our approach using numerical case studies for infiltration into two-dimensional heterogeneous media using three different structure models with distinct differences in connectivity. Our results indicate that an increased isotropic, short-range connectivity reduces non-equilibrium, whereas anisotropic structures that are elongated in the direction of flow enforce it. We observe a good agreement between front morphology and effective hydraulic non-equilibrium. A detailed comparison of averaged state variables with results from an upscaled model that includes hydraulic non-equilibrium outlines potential improvements in the description of non-equilibrium dynamics including preferential flow in simplified, upscaled models based on Richards equation.

Effective medium theory of a diffusion‐weighted signal

Living tissues and other heterogeneous media generally consist of structural units with different diffusion coefficients and NMR properties. These blocks, such as cells or clusters of cells, can be much smaller than the imaging voxel, and are often comparable with the diffusion length. We have developed a general approach to quantify the medium heterogeneity when it is much finer than the sample size or the imaging resolution. The approach is based on the treatment of the medium statistically in terms of the correlation functions of the local parameters. The diffusion-weighted signal is explicity found for the case in which the local diffusivity varies in space, in the lowest order in the diffusivity variance. We demonstrate how the correlation length and the variance of the local diffusivity contribute to the time-dependent diffusion coefficient and the time-dependent kurtosis. Our results are corroborated by Monte Carlo simulations of diffusion in a two-dimensional heterogeneous medium.

Comparison of homogeneous and heterogeneous modeling of transient scattering from dispersive media directly in the time domain

Accurate modeling of pulse propagation and scattering in dispersive medium is a problem in many disciplines (i.e. electromagnetics and acoustics). The inclusion of an additional term in the wave equation (the derivative of the convolution between the causal time-domain propagation factor and the acoustic pressure) that takes into account the dispersive nature of the medium is utilized to make these problems tractable. The resulting modified wave equation (either homogeneous or heterogeneous) is applicable to either linear or non-linear propagation. For the case of an acoustic wave propagating in a two-dimensional heterogeneous dispersive medium, a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) representation of the modified linear wave equation can been used to solve for the acoustic pressure. The method is applied to the case of scattering from and propagating through a 2D infinitely long cylinder with real world material properties. It is found that ignoring the heterogeneity in the medium can lead to significant error in the propagated/scattered field.

Dynamic renormalization group analysis of propagation of elastic waves in two-dimensional heterogeneous media

We study localization of elastic waves in two-dimensional heterogeneous solids with randomly distributed Lam\'e coefficients, as well as those with long-range correlations with a power-law correlation function. The Matin-Siggia-Rose method is used, and the one-loop renormalization group (RG) equations for the the coupling constants are derived in the limit of long wavelengths. The various phases of the coupling constants space, which depend on the value $\rho$, the exponent that characterizes the power-law correlation function, are determined and described. Qualitatively different behaviors emerge for $\rho<1$ and $\rho>1$. The Gaussian fixed point (FP) is stable (unstable) for $\rho<1$ ($\rho>1$). For $\rho<1$ there is a region of the coupling constants space in which the RG flows are toward the Gaussian FP, implying that the disorder is irrelevant and the waves are delocalized. In the rest of the disorder space the elastic waves are localized. We compare the results with those obtained previously for acoustic wave propagation in the same type of heterogeneous media, and describe the similarities and differences between the two phenomena.

Using the nonstationary spectral method to analyze asymptotic macrodispersion in uniformly recharged heterogeneous aquifers

This paper describes an investigation of the influence of uniformly distributed groundwater recharge on asymptotic macrodispersion in two-dimensional heterogeneous media. This is performed using a nonstationary spectral approach [Li, S.-G., McLaughlin, D., 1991. A nonstationary spectral method for solving stochastic groundwater problems: unconditional analysis. Water Resour. Res. 27 (7), 1589–1605; Li, S.-G., McLaughlin, D., 1995. Using the nonstationary spectral method to analyze flow through heterogeneous trending media. Water Resour. Res. 31 (3), 541–551] based on Fourier–Stieltjes representations for the perturbed quantities. To solve the problem analytically, focus is placed on the case where the local longitudinal dispersivity α L is much smaller than the integral scale of log transmissivity λ (i.e., α L / λ ≪ 1). The closed-form expressions are obtained for describing the spectrum of flow velocity, the variability of flow velocity and asymptotic macrodispersion, in terms of the statistical properties and the integral scale of log transmissivity, local transport parameters and a parameter β [Rubin, Y., Bellin, A., 1994. The effects of recharge on flow nonuniformity and macrodispersion. Water Resour. Res. 30 (4), 939–948] used to characterize the degree of flow nonuniformity due to the groundwater recharge. The impact of β on these results is examined.

Duality and similarity properties of the effective permittivity of two-dimensional heterogeneous medium with inclusion of fractal geometry

We report a systematic finite-difference time-domain study on the dielectric properties of two-dimensional lossless heterostructures with inclusion of deterministic fractal geometry (Koch's snowflake, Sierpinski's square and triangle) constrained to sit in a circumscribed circle, for a wide range of surface fractions. In all the configurations investigated, we observed (i) a strong deviation of the surface fraction dependence of the effective permittivity based on Maxwell Garnett analysis, and (ii) a permittivity change with reduced perimeter according to a similarity transformation, at least for the first three iterations of the fractal pattern. We show that the results of our numerical analysis disagree with expectations from the duality (phase interchange) relation, and explain this as being due to the intrinsic complexity of the morphology which requires a multipolar approach to correctly describe the microstructure features of these heterostructures.

Tracer and reactive transport modelling of the interaction between high-pH fluid and fractured rock: Field and laboratory experiments

In order to understand the interaction of a hyperalkaline solution with a fractured shear zone in granite and its influence on the migration of radionuclides, laboratory and underground field experiments at the Grimsel Test Site (Switzerland) were analysed by means of numerical modelling. Supporting data came from hydrogeological testing, structural and mineralogic characterisation of boreholes and cores and from dye tracer experiments in different dipole geometries within the shear zone. One-dimensional flow and reactive transport models have been applied to reproduce the breakthrough curves measured in a small-scale laboratory experiment (forced infiltration into a drill core containing a fracture with fault gouge). Major ion concentrations and water flow through the system could be fitted using a kinetic approach for mineral dissolution and precipitation. To reproduce the measured reduction of the flow rate over time, a small value for the effective mineral surface area had to be chosen together with an empirical relationship between the hydraulic conductivity of the fracture and the amount of precipitated calcium silicate hydrate. Tracer dipole experiments have been interpreted using different concepts to reconcile transport processes and radionuclide migration within a shear zone at the Grimsel Test Site altered by high-pH fluid. Parameter fits were possible for a multiple fracture-matrix approach, as well as for a two-dimensional heterogeneous medium approach. A discrimination between approaches was not possible, although the extended dipole flow field geometry, the quite dissimilar breakthrough curves measured for experiments with different dipole geometries and the measured lateral spreading of the high-pH plume favoured the heterogeneous porous medium approach. Using a heterogeneous porosity distribution, together with an empirical Kozeny–Carman equation that relates porosity and hydraulic conductivity, a heterogeneous flow field could be calculated for the shear zone. This flow field was used to predict the interaction of the hyperalkaline solution with the shear zone. Calculations were also performed to predict the spreading of Cs, Co and Eu radionuclide tracers within the shear zone altered by high-pH interaction. It has been shown that the calculated Cs, Co and Eu breakthroughs and their concentration distributions depend on the assumptions on sorption behaviour. In addition, the observed decrease in hydraulic conductivity of the system, which is observed both in the field and in small-scale core infiltration experiments, and the related changes in the flow field, which are linked to mineral alteration, will strongly influence the migration of radionuclides.

Near real-time atmospheric contamination source identification by an optimization-based inverse method

In this article, we propose a method to identify contamination events (location and time of release) by enhancing a mathematical method originally proposed by Carasso et al. (Carasso, A., Sanderson, J.G. and Hyman, J.M., 1978, Digital removal of random media image degradation by solving the diffusion equation backward in time. SIAM Journal of Numerical Analysis, 15(4)). The method of the Marching-Jury Backward Beam/Plate Equation, applied earlier to groundwater problems, is enhanced and coupled to discrete Fourier transform processing techniques to solve a two-dimensional (2D) advection-dispersion transport problem with homogeneous and isotropic parameters backwards in time. (Atmadja, J. and Bagtzoglou, A.C., 2001a, Pollution source identification in heterogeneous porous media. Water Resources Research, 37(8), 2113–2125; Bagtzoglou, A.C. and Atmadja, J., 2003, The marching-jury backward beam equation and quasi-reversibility methods for hydrologic inversion: application to contaminant plume spatial distribution recovery. Water Resources Research, 39(2), 1038. Cornacchiulo, D. and Bagtzoglou, A.C., 2002, The marching-jury backward plate equation for contaminant plume spatial distribution recovery in two-dimensional heterogeneous media: Computational Issues, In: S.M. Hassanizadeh, R.J. Schotting, W.G. Gray and G.F. Pinder (Eds.) Computational Methods for Subsurface Flow and Transport (Netherlands: Elsevier Publishers) pp. 461–468. The difficulties associated with this ill-posed, inverse problem are well-recognized (Atmadja, J. and Bagtzoglou, A.C., 2001b, State-of-the-art report on mathematical methods for groundwater pollution source identification. Environmental Forensics, 2(3), 205–214). We, therefore, enhance the method by integrating an optimization scheme that takes as input parameters the stabilization parameter, the transport velocities, and the coefficient of diffusion. The objective function is set as an equally weighted sum of different mass and peak errors that can be calculated based on a combination of exhaustive contaminant coverage at specific points in time (e.g., lidar) and/or point data collected at a continuously monitored network of chemical sensors or biosensors, which may be stationary or mobile.

Absorption coefficient estimation in heterogeneous media using a domain partition consistent with divergent beams*

An inverse radiative transfer problem is solved for the estimation of the absorption coefficient in a purely absorbing two-dimensional heterogeneous medium. A natural base built with a domain partition that takes into account the possibility of having divergent radiation beams originated at external sources is used in combination with a family of action by line reconstruction algorithms, built within the framework of Lebesgue measure, with Bregman distances based on a q-discrepancy functional. The domain partition and the assembly of the corresponding system of linear algebraic equations, whose unknowns are the absorption coefficients for each element of the partition, are described in detail. Results are presented for test cases using synthetic experimental data generated with a Monte Carlo simple integration technique.

Estimation of the local thermal conductivity field of a plane heterogeneous medium with infrared image processing and the volume-averaging method

The estimation of local thermophysical properties can be of paramount importance in the study of heterogeneous media. The volume-averaging method is used to implement an estimation method of a local thermal conductivity field of a two-dimensional heterogeneous medium. The method is tested with experimental transient temperature fields, obtained with a calibrated sample with an infrared camera. A large number of images was processed in the transient state. The same intrinsic stationary field is estimated from each image. By means of repeated estimations, this method reduces the measurement noise influence.

Solute transport in heterogeneous media: The impact of anisotropy and non-ergodicity in risk assessment

Conceptual model selection is a key issue in risk assessment studies. We analyze the effect of a number of conceptual aspects related to solute transport in two-dimensional heterogeneous media. The main issues addressed are non-ergodicity, anisotropy in the correlation structure of the transmissivity field, and dispersion at the local scale. In particular, we study the development of a solute plume when mean flow is oriented at an angle with respect to the principal directions of anisotropy. The study is carried out in a Lagrangian framework using Monte Carlo analysis. Of special interest is the evolution of individual plumes. A number of aspects are analyzed, namely the location of the center of mass for each plume and the different ways to compute the angles that the main axes of the plume develop with respect to the direction of the mean flow. Stochastic theories based upon ergodicity conclude that the plume gets oriented in the mean flow direction. In our non-ergodic simulations, the mean of the offset angles, for each individual plume in each particular realization, is offset from the mean flow direction towards the direction of maximum anisotropy. If, instead, the analysis is performed on the ensemble plume (superposition of all different simulations), it is then found oriented closer to the direction of the mean flow than the average offset angle for the different plumes considered separately. This last result adds an extra word of caution to the use of ensemble averaged values in solute transport studies. Serious implications for risk assessment follow from the conceptual model adopted. First, in any single realization there will a large uncertainty in locating the plume at any given time; second, real dilution would be less than what would be expected if the macrodispersion values obtained for ergodic conditions were applied; third, the volume that is affected by a non-zero concentration is smaller than that predicted from macrodispersion concepts; fourth, the orientation of the plume does not correspond to that of the mean flow; and fifth, accounting for local dispersion helps reducing uncertainty.