Three dimensional simulation of fluid flow in X-ray CT images of porous media

A. Al-Omari, Eyad Masad*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

80 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A numerical scheme is developed in order to simulate fluid flow in three dimensional (3-D) microstructures. The governing equations for steady incompressible flow are solved using the semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equations (SIMPLE) finite difference scheme within a non-staggered grid system that represents the 3-D microstructure. This system allows solving the governing equations using only one computational cell. The numerical scheme is verified through simulating fluid flow in idealized 3-D microstructures with known closed form solutions for permeability. The numerical factors affecting the solution in terms of convergence and accuracy are also discussed. These factors include the resolution of the analysed microstructure and the truncation criterion. Fluid flow in 2-D X-ray computed tomography (CT) images of real porous media microstructure is also simulated using this numerical model. These real microstructures include field cores of asphalt mixes, laboratory linear kneading compactor (LKC) specimens, and laboratory Superpave gyratory compactor (SGC) specimens. The numerical results for the permeability of the real microstructures are compared with the results from closed form solutions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1327-1360
Number of pages34
JournalInternational Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics
Volume28
Issue number13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Asphalt mix
  • Flow
  • Navier-Stokes equations
  • Non-staggered system
  • Permeability
  • Porous media
  • X-ray CT images

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