A theory of porous media and harmonic wave propagation in poroelastic body

The present work is based on a mixture theory of poroelastic media which is consistent with the classical Darcy’s law and uplift force in soil mechanics. In addition, it also results in having an inertial effect on the motion of solid constituent as commonly expected, in contrast to Biot’s theory, where relative acceleration is introduced as an interactive force between solid and fluid constituents to account for the apparent inertial effect. The propagation of plane harmonic waves in homogeneously deformed region is considered. For different poroelastic models with either incompressible solid or incompressible fluid constituent, phase speeds and attenuation coefficients are analysed and numerically determined with convenient data from a nonlinear material model for comparison with some available results in the literature.

A Comparison of Thermal Dispersion Behaviour in High-Conductivity Porous Media of Various Pore Geometries

The effect of pore geometry on the axial thermal dispersion conductivity for high-conductivity porous media under general thermal non-equilibrium conditions is studied numerically. Pore geometries including arrays of inline square and circular cylinders, staggered circular cylinders, and a three-dimensional idealization of a graphite foam pore geometry are used to study the effects of the solid constituent shape and arrangement, as well as the effect of a relatively complex three-dimensional pore structure. Results indicate that in general, the dispersion conductivity cannot be considered a simple function of the Péclet number due to the effects of inertia, which cause the dispersion behaviour to depend on both the Reynolds and Prandtl numbers. On the basis of the current results, it is recommended that the influences of the Reynolds and Prandtl numbers be considered separately when generating models for the dispersion conductivity.

Outbursts of comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, and the cloud of interplanetary boulders

It is suggested that the outbursts of Periodic Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 are triggered by impacts of interplanetary boulders on the surface of the comet’s nucleus. The existence of a cloud of such boulders in interplanetary space was predicted by Harwit (1967). We have used the hypothesis to calculate the characteristics of the outbursts – such as their mean rate, optically important dimensions of ejected debris, expansion velocity of the ejecta, maximum diameter of the expanding cloud before it fades out, and the magnitude of the accompanying orbital impulse – and found them reasonably consistent with observations, if the solid constituent of the comet is assumed in the form of a porous matrix of lowstrength meteoric material. A Monte Carlo method was applied to simulate the distributions of impacts, their directions and impact velocities.