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Title: Morphodynamics of Fluid-Fluid Displacement in Three-Dimensional Deformable Granular Media

Journal Article · · Physical Review Applied
 [1];  [2]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Aix-Marseille Univ., Marseille (France); Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

We study experimentally the displacement of one fluid by another in a granular pack to uncover relationships between fluid invasion and medium deformation. We develop an experimental setup that allows us to reconstruct the coupled invasion-deformation dynamics in 3D. We simultaneously characterize the fluid invasion pattern and document a transition from fluid-fluid displacement in pores to the formation of conduits by grain motion. We rationalize the findings in terms of a simple poromechanics model that indeed captures this transition as a result of the balance between viscous and frictional forces. Furthermore these results contribute to elucidating the role of three dimensionality in the timing, mode, and morphology of fluid-fluid displacement and injection-induced deformation in porous media.

Research Organization:
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0018357
OSTI ID:
1505625
Journal Information:
Physical Review Applied, Journal Name: Physical Review Applied Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 9; ISSN 2331-7019; ISSN PRAHB2
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (2)

Grain‐Displacive Gas Migration in Fine‐Grained Sediments journal March 2019
Quasistatic fluid-fluid displacement in porous media: Invasion-percolation through a wetting transition journal October 2018