Synthetic Porous Microstructures: Automatic Design, Simulation, and Permeability Analysis

TL;DR

This paper presents an open-source computational framework for designing, simulating, and analyzing the permeability of synthetic porous microstructures, enabling controlled microstructure creation and detailed fluid flow analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integrated methodology combining geometric modeling, fluid-structure interaction simulation, and stochastic upscaling for permeability estimation.

Findings

Validated the framework through permeability studies across flow regimes

Demonstrated controlled microstructure design with tunable porosity

Provided insights into flow behavior in synthetic porous media

Abstract

This study introduces an open-source computational framework for the generation and permeability evaluation of synthetic porous media. The proposed methodology integrates crystallographic and meshing tools to construct controlled microstructures with tunable porosity, facilitating seamless transitions from geometric modelling to computational domains for numerical simulations. The generated structures are analysed through fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations, leveraging the Entropically Damped Artificial Compressibility (EDAC) formulation in conjunction with the Discretization-Corrected Particle Strength Exchange (DC-PSE) method. A novel approach for the numerical estimation of the macroscopic permeability tensor is presented, employing a stochastic upscaling technique inspired by the volume averaging method. To validate the framework, we investigate the transition between creeping and non-Darcy flow regimes through parametric permeability studies, utilizing a one-dimensional approach for practical benchmarking. The results establish a foundation for experimental validation and provide insights into the customised design of porous structures for engineering and biomedical applications, offering a versatile tool for research in fluid transport and porous media mechanics.