Micro-mechanical analysis on the onset of erosion in granular materials

Harshani, H. M. D.; Galindo‐Torres, S. A.; Scheuermann, Alexander; Mühlhaus, H. B.

doi:10.1080/14786435.2015.1049237

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This may lead to a rotation of fine particles before thet lift up during the onset of erosion. This characteristics has been already identified by Harshani et al (2015) in numerical simulations. Also Galindo-Torres et al ( 2013) has modelled contact erosion for upward flow using DEM and LBM.…”

Section: Contact Erosion Studiessupporting

confidence: 66%

Characterisation of flow conditions for contact erosion analysis using PIV

Harshani¹,

Galindo‐Torres²,

Scheuermann³

2016

Scour and Erosion

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The aim of this paper is to examine the flow characteristics at the initiation of contact erosion. When water flows through fine soil to a coarser soil layer, changes of the flow properties may occur due to transition of the pore structure. A pore scale experiment was developed in order to explore the local flow behaviour which leads to migration of fine particles into a coarse structure. Optical access to the pore structure was obtained by having a transparent soil model consisting of hydrogel beads. This allowed water to be used as the fluid phase and resulted in a more adaptable Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system. Upward seeded flow was applied to the test section and illuminated using a low risk Light Emitting Diode (LED) light sheet. After calibrating the set-up with macroscopic flow rate measured by flow meter, images of the contact zone of coarse and fine particles were taken with different flow boundary conditions using a high speed camera. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were carried out to identify spatial variability of the flow conditions which led to initiation of the fine particle movement. Results show that the local reorientation of the flow will lead to local initiation of the contact erosion. Major reasons for this behaviour are discussed in this paper.

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Section: Contact Erosion Studiessupporting

confidence: 66%

Characterisation of flow conditions for contact erosion analysis using PIV

Harshani¹,

Galindo‐Torres²,

Scheuermann³

2016

Scour and Erosion

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“…For the DEM, Newton's second law of motion is applied to determine the position of each particles under the driven of drag force of the pore fluid. For example, Harshani et al [24] attempted to use the coupled DEM-LBM (Lattice Boltzmann Method) scheme to model the onset of erosion in granular materials at a microscale when the fluid pass through a solid matrix in an opposing direction to gravity. In his method, the DEM was used to model particles movement, while the LBM was used to model fluid flow at a mesoscale, and the coupled DEM-LBM scheme is effective to study the internal erosion phenomena.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Simulation of Channelization Near the Wellbore due to Seepage Erosion in Unconsolidated Sands during Fluid Injection

Sun

Deng

et al. 2021

Geofluids

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The channels may be formed in the unconsolidated sands reservoir due to formation failure during high-pressure water injection or frac-packing. Based on the continuum mechanics, a mathematical model has been established to simulate the formation process of big channels in unconsolidated sands reservoir during fluid injection. The model considers the effect of reservoir heterogeneity, solid particles erosion, and deposition. The dynamic formation process of channels around the borehole and its influencing factors are analyzed by this model. The results indicate that the seepage erosion plays a very significant role in the formation of the channels during fluid injection for the unconsolidated sands with extremely low strength. The formation of the channels is closely related to the duration of fluid injection, injection pressure, reservoir heterogeneity, formation plugging, and critical fluid velocity. The long channels are more likely to form as injection time increases. Higher injection pressure will lead to higher flow rate, thus eroding the solid particles and forming big channels. The increase of the rock strength will enhance the value of critical fluid velocity, which makes it difficult for the occurrence of erosional channelization. The near-wellbore damage of the formation will decrease the flow rate, and the preferential flow channels are less likely to be induced under the same injection pressure when compared with undamaged formation. In addition, we also found that the reservoir heterogeneity is essential to the formation of preferential flow channels. The channels are especially prone to be formed in the regions with high porosity and permeability at the initial time. The study can provide a theoretical reference for the optimal design of high-pressure water injection or frac-packing operation in the unconsolidated sands reservoir.

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“…Apart from a very recent work based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) computation including granular kinetic theory with Eulerian approach [43], all other previous numerical investigations used a discrete particle approach to model related systems such as multiple spout-fluidized beds [29], gas-fluidized bed by DEM-CFD algorithm [44], fluidization of a cohesionless particulate bed by a localized fluid influx [45,46], or even partial fluidization of a cohesive soil layer by DEM-LBM simulation [47,48]. As in these two latter studies, combining the discrete element method and the lattice Boltzmann method appears to be a highly efficient strategy for simulating fluidgrain coupling in relation to soil mechanic issues [49][50][51] including porous flow [52], immersed granular flows [53,54], and soil erosion [55][56][57]. Building on some previous works of DEM-LBM modeling [54,58], the present study proposed a 2D modeling of partial fluidization inside a cohesionless granular sample by an upward fluid flow injected at the bottom of the grain layer with a variable width.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-dimensional numerical simulation of chimney fluidization in a granular medium using a combination of discrete element and lattice Boltzmann methods

Ngoma¹,

Philippe²,

Bonelli³

et al. 2018

Phys. Rev. E

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We present here a numerical study dedicated to the fluidization of a submerged granular medium induced by a localized fluid injection. To this end, a two-dimensional (2D) model is used, coupling the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) with the discrete element method (DEM) for a relevant description of fluid-grains interaction. An extensive investigation has been carried out to analyze the respective influences of the different parameters of our configuration, both geometrical (bed height, grain diameter, injection width) and physical (fluid viscosity, buoyancy). Compared to previous experimental works, the same qualitative features are recovered as regards the general phenomenology including transitory phase, stationary states, and hysteretic behavior. We also present quantitative findings about transient fluidization, for which several dimensionless quantities and scaling laws are proposed, and about the influence of the injection width, from localized to homogeneous fluidization. Finally, the impact of the present 2D geometry is discussed, by comparison to the real three-dimensional (3D) experiments, as well as the crucial role of the prevailing hydrodynamic regime within the expanding cavity, quantified through a cavity Reynolds number, that can presumably explain some substantial differences observed regarding upward expansion process of the fluidized zone when the fluid viscosity is changed.

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Micro-mechanical analysis on the onset of erosion in granular materials

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

Characterisation of flow conditions for contact erosion analysis using PIV

Characterisation of flow conditions for contact erosion analysis using PIV

Numerical Simulation of Channelization Near the Wellbore due to Seepage Erosion in Unconsolidated Sands during Fluid Injection

Two-dimensional numerical simulation of chimney fluidization in a granular medium using a combination of discrete element and lattice Boltzmann methods

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