Shocked porous granular material experiences pressure dependent compaction. D. John Pastine introduced a model in which the degree of compaction is dependent on the pressure induced by the shock wave, the shear strength of the material, and the distribution of void sizes. In the past, the model could only be approximated. Using computational techniques and higher speed computers, the response of this model to void size distributions may be displayed to a high degree of precision. / Graduation date: 1996

Spatial heterogeneity of geologic media leads to uncertainty in predicting both flow and transport in the vadose zone. In this work an efficient and flexible, combined analyticalnumerical Monte Carlo approach is developed for the analysis of steady-state flow and transient transport processes in highly heterogeneous, variably saturated porous media. The approach is also used for the investigation of the validity of linear, first order analytical stochastic models. With the Monte Carlo analysis accurate estimates of the ensemble conductivity, head, velocity, and concentration mean and covariance are obtained; the statistical moments describing displacement of solute plumes, solute breakthrough at a compliance surface, and time of first exceedance of a given solute flux level are analyzed; and the cumulative probability density functions for solute flux across a compliance surface are investigated. The results of the Monte Carlo analysis show that for very heterogeneous flow fields, and particularly in anisotropie soils, The linearized, analytical predictions of soil water tension and soil moisture flux become erroneous. Analytical, linearized Lagrangian transport models also overestimate both the longitudinal and the transverse spreading of the mean solute plume in very heterogeneous soils and in dry soils. A combined analytical-numerical conditional simulation algorithm is developed to estimate the impact of in-situ soil hydraulic measurements on reducing the uncertainty of concentration and solute flux predictions. In soils with large spatial variability and in dry soils, soil water tension measurements significantly reduce the uncertainty in the predicted solute concentration. Saturated hydraulic conductivity data are valuable in relatively wet soils. A combination of tension and saturated hydraulic conductivity data gives the best results, especially if some data are available on the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function. It is also found that if soil heterogeneity is large, the conditional spatial moments of inertia of the mean concentration plume and the conditional mean breakthrough curves are poor means of depicting the actual solute plume distribution and the actual solute flux. Nevertheless, conditional simulation is one of the most rational approaches for modeling unsaturated flow and transport, if in-situ data are available.

The purpose of the research was to develop a quantitative method which could be used to obtain a clearer understanding of the time-dependent fluid filteration and load-deformation behavior of soft, porous, fluid filled materials (e.g. biological tissues, soil). The focus of the study was on the development of a finite strain theory for multiphasic media and associated computer models capable of predicting the mechanical stresses and the fluid transport processes in porous structures (e.g. across the large blood vessels walls). The finite element (FE) formulation of the nonlinear governing equations of motion was the method of solution for a poroelastic (PE) media. This theory and the FE formulations included the anisotropic, nonlinear material; geometric nonlinearity; compressibility and incompressibility conditions; static and dynamic analysis; and the effect of chemical potential difference across the boundaries (known as swelling effect in biological tissues). The theory takes into account the presence and motion of free water within the biological tissue as the structure undergoes finite straining. Since it is well known that biological tissues are capable of undergoing large deformations, the linear theories are unsatisfactory in describing the mechanical response of these tissues. However, some linear analyses are done in this work to help understand the more involved nonlinear behavior. The PE view allows a quantitative prediction of the mechanical response and specifically the pore pressure fluid flow which may be related to the transport of the macromolecules and other solutes in the biological tissues. A special mechanical analysis was performed on a representative arterial walls in order to investigate the effects of nonlinearity on the fluid flow across the walls. Based on a finite strain poroelastic theory developed in this work; axisymmetric, plane strain FE models were developed to study the quasi-static behavior of large arteries. The accuracy of the FE models was verified by comparison with analytical solutions wherever is possible. These numerical models were used to evaluate variables and parameters, that are difficult or may be impossible to measure experimentally. For instance, pore pressure distribution within the tissue, relative fluid flow; deformation of the wall; and stress distribution across the wall were obtained using the poroelastic FE models. The effect of hypertension on the mechanical response of the arterial wall was studied using the nonlinear finite element models. This study demonstrated that the finite element models are powerful tools for the study of the mechanics of complicated structures such as biological tissue. It is also shown that the nonlinear multiphasic theory, developed in this thesis, is valid for describing the mechanical response of biological tissue structures under mechanical loadings.

A theory is presented which accounts for a particular aspect of nonlinearity caused by the deviation of plume "particles" from their mean trajectory in three-dimensional, statistically homogeneous but anisotropic porous media under an exponential covariance of log hydraulic conductivities. Quasilinear expressions for the time-dependent nonlocal dispersivity and spatial covariance tensors of ensemble mean concentration are derived, as a function of time, variance σᵧ² of log hydraulic conductivity, degree of anisotropy, and flow direction. One important difference between existing linear theories and the new quasilinear theory is that in the former transverse nonlocal dispersivities tend asymptotically to zero whereas in the latter they tend to nonzero Fickian asymptotes. Another important difference is that while all existing theories are nominally limited to situations where σᵧ² is less than 1, the quasilinear theory is expected to be less prone to error when this restriction is violated because it deals with the above nonlinearity without formally limiting σᵧ². The theory predicts a significant drop in dimensionless longitudinal dispersivity when σᵧ² is large as compared to the case where σᵧ² is small. As a consequence of this drop the real asymptotic longitudinal dispersivity, which varies in proportion to σᵧ² when σᵧ² is small, is predicted to vary as σᵧ when σᵧ² is large. The dimensionless transverse dispersivity also drops significantly at early dimensionless time when σᵧ² is large. At late time this dispersivity attains a maximum near σᵧ² = 1, varies asymptotically at a rate proportional to σᵧ² when σᵧ² is small, and appears inversely proportional to σᵧ when σᵧ² is large. The actual asymptotic transverse dispersivity varies in proportion to σᵧ⁴ when σᵧ² is small and appears proportional to σᵧ when σᵧ² is large. One of the most interesting findings is that when the mean seepage velocity vector μ is at an angle to the principal axes of statistical anisotropy, the orientation of longitudinal spread is generally offset from μ toward the direction of largest log hydraulic conductivity correlation scale. When local dispersion is active, a plume starts elongating parallel to μ. With time the long axis of the plume rotates toward the direction of largest correlation scale, then rotates back toward μ, and finally stabilizes asymptotically at a relatively small angle of deflection. Application of the theory to depth-averaged concentration data from the recent tracer experiment at Borden, Ontario, yields a consistent and improved fit without any need for parameter adjustment.

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Dissolved organic contaminants that decrease the surface tension of water (surfactants) can have an effect on unsaturated flow through porous media due to the dependence of capillary pressure on surface tension. One and two-dimensional (1D, 2D) laboratory experiments and numerical simulations were conducted to study surfactant-induced unsaturated flow. The 1D experiments investigated differences in surfactant-induced flow as a function of contaminant mobility. The flow in a system contaminated with a high solubility, mobile surfactant, butanol, was much different than in a system contaminated with a sparingly soluble, relatively immobile surfactant, myristyl alcohol (MA). Because surface tension depression caused by MA was confined to the original source zone, the MA system was modeled using a standard unsaturated flow model (HYDRUS-1D) by assigning separate sets of hydraulic functions to the initially clean and source zones. To simulate the butanol system, HYDRUS-1D was modified to incorporate surfactant concentration-dependent changes to the moisture content-pressure head and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity functions. Following the 1D study, a two-dimensional flow cell (2.4 x 1.5 x 0.1 m) was used to investigate the infiltration of a surfactant contaminant plume from a point source on the soil surface, through the vadose zone, and toward a shallow aquifer. Above the top of the capillary fringe the advance of the surfactant solution caused a drainage front that radiated from the point source. Upon reaching the capillary fringe, the drainage front caused a localized depression of the capillary fringe and eventually a new capillary fringe height was established. Horizontal transport of surfactant in the depressed capillary fringe caused the propagation of a wedge-shaped drainage front in the downgradient direction. The numerical model HYDRUS-2D was modified to account for surfactant concentration-dependent effects on the unsaturated hydraulic functions and was successfully used to simulate the surfactant infiltration experiment. The extensive propagation of the drying front and the effect of vadose zone drainage on contaminant breakthrough time demonstrate the potential importance of considering surface tension effects on unsaturated flow and transport in systems containing surface-active organic contaminants or in systems where surfactants are used for remediation of the vadose zone or unconfined aquifers.

Includes bibliographical references. / [210] leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / This thesis presents two advanced modelling studies which address some unresolved fluidized bed combustion (FBC) issues. In the first study, finite element methods are used to solve a transient continuum/percolation model of a single porous char and its surrounding boundary layer so as to generate temperature, O2,CO2, CO pressure and porosity distributions for over 100 different FBC conditions. In the second study, a new discrete approach for the determination of the diffusion coefficients of the fluid-solid system is described and used, based on moecular dynamics and percolation concepts. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, 1996

A continuous physical cake made up of porous fibrous media can be formed by using air to draw the fibers to a moving screen. A numerical model of the formation of this cake has been formulated and solved. The numerical model is based on solving Darcy’s law, the Bernoulli equation, and two-material related experimental correlations at discrete points along the screen. A permeability measurement test apparatus was designed and built, and experiments were run to determine the experimental relations for two different materials. A computer code was then written to solve the system of equations at each point on the screen and give a density distribution of the resulting cake. Tests were then run to see the effects of various density anomalies in the material at different points along the screen. The results of the experiments show that the first material was more permeable and more compressible than the second material. This lead to distinct differences in the cake that the two formed in the numerical model. The first material formed a fairly constant density cake that was not greatly affected by the density anomalies. The second material had a large variation in density across the final cake height and was affected more by the different density anomalies. / Master of Science

We study systems of n dimensional diffusions whose drift and dispersion coefficients depend only on the relative ranking of the processes. We consider the question of how long it takes for a particle to go from one rank to another. It is argued that as n gets large, the distribution of particles satisfies a Porous Medium Equation. Using this, we derive a deterministic limit for the system of particles. This limit allows for direct calculation of the properties of the rank traversal time. The results are extended to the case of asymmetrically colliding particles. These models are of interest in the study of financial markets and economic inequality. In particular, we derive limits for the performance of some Functionally Generated Portfolios originating from Stochastic Portfolio Theory.