HR: 1330h
AN: H42F-1149    [PDF]
TI: Simulating Multiphase Flow in Complex Fracture With Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics
AU: * Tartakovsky, A M
EM: tartam@inel.gov
AF: Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Labratory, P.O. Box 1625 MS 2025, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2025 United States
AU: Meakin, P
EM: meakp@inel.gov
AF: Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Labratory, P.O. Box 1625 MS 2025, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2025 United States
AB: The smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method was used to simulate multiphase flow in fractures with complex geometries. Originally developed for astrophysical problems more than 20 years ago, SPH is now finding applications in hydrogeology. The fully Lagrangian nature of SPH allows the front separating the fluids to be modelled without employing complex front trucking schemes. SPH does not require the construction of a grid that would introduce numerical dispersion. The surface tension and fluids wettability are simulated by attractive and repulsive fluid-fluid and fluid-boundary interparticle interactions. The fracture geometry was generated from self-affine fractal surfaces. The fractal model is based on the observation that the fracture of brittle materials, including rocks, generates surfaces that have a self-affine fractal geometry, which can be characterized by a Hurst exponent with a material independent (universal) value of about 0.75. Our model qualitatively predicts such complex multiphase flow phenomenon as phase separation and fluid fragmentation. Such behaviors are very difficult to model with grid-base methods. A detailed comparison between numerical results and laboratory experiments is needed to quantitatively validate the model.
DE: 1829 Groundwater hydrology
DE: 1832 Groundwater transport
DE: 3210 Modeling
DE: 3230 Numerical solutions
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting