Paper online (AWR) on water retention in disordered granular media

Shi, Z., Wang, Z., Gan, Y. (2021) Effects of topological disorder in unsaturated granular media via a pore-scale lattice Boltzmann investigation. Advances in Water Resources, in press. [DOI]

Liquid cluster distribution with the degree of saturation of 17%. (Click the image to see the gif animation.)
Liquid cluster distribution with the degree of saturation of 8%. (Click the image to see the gif animation.)

We studied combined effects of topological disorder and wettability on multi-phase flow in wet granular media using pore-scale lattice Boltzmann simulations. The increasing topological disorder can enhance the connectivity of liquid clusters, leading to a larger mean cluster volume and an early transition towards the funicular state from pendular state. Correlations between the proposed capillary index, capturing effects from both topological disorder and wettability, and water retention curves are identified.

Full paper can be downloaded via Publications page, when available.


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