- Author
- Martys, N. S. | Garboczi, E. J.
- Title
- Length Scales Relating the Fluid Permeability and Electrical Conductivity in Random Two-Dimensional Model Porous Media.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
- Physical Review B., Vol. 46, No. 10, 6080-6090, September 1, 1992
- Keywords
- permeability | electrical resistivity | porous media | structural models | algorithms | length scales | random systems | fluid flow
- Abstract
- We present results of a study testing proposed length scales relating the bulk electrical conductivity of a fluid-saturated porous medium to its permeability. We also examine differences between the electric fields and the fluid-flow fields for a given pore structure by comparing their respective two-point correlation functions. The length scale is analytically related to an electric-field correlation length, and is found, to a good approximation, to be proportional to a fluid-velocity correlation length. The results of this paper demonstrate the important effect that spatial randomness in the pore space has on flow problems. In a random pore structure, with a distribution of pore sizes, the flow will tend to go more through the largest pore necks, decreasing the importance of the narrowest necks that tend to dominate the behavior of periodic models.