On the Beavers-Joseph-Saffman boundary condition for curved interfaces

TL;DR

This paper extends the Beavers-Joseph-Saffman boundary condition to curved interfaces, deriving effective flow behavior and boundary laws considering interface geometry through homogenisation and coordinate transformation.

Contribution

It generalizes the Beavers-Joseph boundary condition to curved, macroscopically periodic interfaces using coordinate transformation and boundary layer analysis.

Findings

Effective velocity is continuous in the normal direction.

A slip occurs tangentially at the interface.

Pressure jump is characterized and related to interface geometry.

Abstract

The appropriate boundary condition between an unconfined incompressible viscous fluid and a porous medium is given by the law of Beavers and Joseph. The latter has been justified both experimentally and mathematically, using the method of periodic homogenisation. However, all results so far deal only with the case of a planar boundary. In this work, we consider the case of a curved, macroscopically periodic boundary. By using a coordinate transformation, we obtain a description of the flow in a domain with a planar boundary, for which we derive the effective behaviour: The effective velocity is continuous in normal direction. Tangential to the interface, a slip occurs. Additionally, a pressure jump occurs. The magnitude of the slip velocity as well as the jump in pressure can be determined with the help of a generalised boundary layer function. The results indicate the validity of a generalised law of Beavers and Joseph, where the geometry of the interface has an influence on the slip and jump constants.