Presentation materials
Wicking in thin media plays a crucial role in liquid absorption across a wide range of applications, including wipes, diapers, medical devices, sportswear, filtration, batteries, and oil spill cleanup. This chapter introduces a sophisticated mathematical modeling framework to analyze liquid absorption and solid deformation during unsaturated two-phase flow in thin, swelling porous media under...
The ability of a saturated swelling porous medium to swell can be measured using a reverse osmotic swelling experiment [3]. This experiment demonstrates that the liquid pressure inside a swelling porous medium (termed vicinal fluid) is different from that of fluid outside the porous medium in equilibrium with it (termed bulk fluid), and this in turn affects the flow of fluid and the speed of...
This study focuses on the electrokinetic conditioning of expansive soils, emphasizing the physiochemical aspects – an area frequently overlooked in prior research. Expansive soils, known for their propensity to swell and shrink in response to moisture fluctuations, present formidable challenges in geotechnical engineering. These volumetric alterations can lead to soil heave and settlement,...
The evolving pore structure in soil, influenced by various physico-chemical activities such as erosion, climate change, mechanical loading, and chemical weathering, can lead to catastrophic events like landslides and slope failures. One significant factor contributing to pore structure changes in soil is the cyclic drying and wetting process, which profoundly impacts various soil properties....
Granular soft materials (e.g., hydrogel spheres) have gained considerable attention due to their potential applications in drug delivery and tissue regeneration. To enable widespread applications of these materials in practical settings, it is crucial to accurately characterise the mechanical property (e.g., Young’s modules). Typically, the elastic properties can be determined through...
The evaporation dynamics of surfactant-laden solutions in porous media play a critical role in processes such as soil remediation, enhanced oil recovery, and controlled drug delivery. This study systematically investigates the evaporation behavior of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) solutions using a silicon-based glass microfluidic model system designed to mimic the complexity of capillary...
