Conveners
MS4: MS04
- Sridhar Ranganathan (Kimberly Clark)
- Daniel Markl (University of Strathclyde)
- Chris MacMinn (University of Oxford)
Experimental geomechanics highlights that the mechanical behavior of expansive porous media is variable depending on the pore water chemical composition. These porous media are typically characterized by clay particles, whose activity (Skempton, 1953) (and thus propensity to expand) is itself dependent on the pore water chemical composition. Chemical-induced mechanical effects on both shear...
Water scarcity is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Using desiccants to harvest water from air is a promising way to address this challenge. However, most desiccants require considerable energy input to release absorbed water as vapor and then condense it. Here, we overcome this limitation by developing Moisture-Absorbent, Temperature-Controlled Hydrogels (MATCHes) that absorb...
Some cross-linked polymers, such as hydrogels, can absorb large quantities of solvents whilst undergoing a large change in volume. These chemically driven flows lead to a strong deformation of the polymer. In our experiments, we place a single droplet of water on a thin layer of strongly swelling polymer. Within minutes, a strongly swollen, very localised blister with a patterned surface...
Chemo-mechanical coupling in rock is known to result in the generation of cracks from volumetric changes in minerals caused by hydration, carbonation, oxidation, precipitation, and mineral dissolution. Alterations to the microstructures and changes in the chemical and mechanical properties of materials resulting from these processes can produce different types of acoustic activity as...
Complex clay systems are present all over the word and play a major role in many applications. In sedimentation processes for example, it is known that the settlement of clay particles is slow when they are exposed to fresh water. However, when exposed to salt water, the dynamics of the particles drastically change. The clay particles flocculate and results in a separation of an almost pure...
Diffusion of water into plant materials is known to degrade their mechanical strength and stiffness, yet simultaneously enhance formability. Hence, the phenomenon is of both fundamental interest, and of importance for manufacture of eco-friendly products, e.g., foodware (plates, bowls). The existing literature on diffusion in plant materials (mainly woods) has focused on diffusion of water...
A poro-elasto-visco-plastic model for the consolidation of a two-phase suspension is presented, motivated by the compaction and dewatering of wood-fibre pulp. For that material, traditional two-phase models of particulate porous media based upon plastic yielding of the particle network prove insufficient to capture the observed dynamics. The incorporation of viscous effects stemming from the...
Transport in porous materials is a problem of relevance for several real-life applications such as disintegration of pharmaceutical tablets [1], groundwater contamination [2], and oil extraction [3]. In several cases the fluid changes the medium, and these changes are expected to feedback into the fluid flow. Examples of these changes are: i) erosion; ii) swelling; and iii) dissolution of...
