6533b822fe1ef96bd127d55c

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Quantitative prediction of effective material properties of heterogeneous media

Rudolf HilferRudolf HilferJ. WidjajakusumaB. BiswalB. Biswal

subject

PermittivityPhysicsGeneral Computer ScienceGeneral Physics and AstronomyThermodynamicsGeneral ChemistryComputational Mathematicssymbols.namesakeQuasistatic approximationMaxwell's equationsMechanics of MaterialsPercolationsymbolsGeneral Materials ScienceStatistical physicsBoundary value problemMaterial propertiesPorous mediumPorosity

description

Effective electrical conductivity and electrical permittivity of water-saturated natural sandstones are evaluated on the basis of local porosity theory (LPT). In contrast to earlier methods, which characterize the underlying microstructure only through the volume fraction, LPT incorporates geometric information about the stochastic microstructure in terms of local porosity distribution and local percolation probabilities. We compare the prediction of LPT and of traditional effective medium theory with the exact results. The exact results for the conductivity and permittivity are obtained by solving the microscopic mixed boundary value problem for the Maxwell equations in the quasistatic approximation. Contrary to the predictions from effective medium theory, the predictions of LPT are in better quantitative agreement with the exact results.

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0927-0256(99)00047-6