FORCED UNIDIRECTIONAL INFILTRATION OF DEFORMABLE POROUS-MEDIA

We treat the infiltration of an initially dry deformable porous medium by a pressurized liquid, taking into account the influence of variati ons in permeability within the deformed porous medium. Chief assumptio ns of our analysis are neglect of gravity, of inertial forces, and of partial saturation in the porous medium. We focus on unidirectional in filtration under constant liquid pressure, and present data from the i nfiltration of polyurethane sponge by ethylene glycol in a configurati on of nearly unidirectional infiltration with reflief from friction ef fects along sample sides. We find excellent agreement between theory a nd experiment at longer infiltration times. We examine an additional a ssumption, namely the neglect of solid-phase velocity compared with av erage local liquid velicity at lower porous-medium strains. Agreement of this simplified model with experimental data, albeit less good, rem ains quite acceptable given the considerable computational simplicity it produces.