The Permeability of Boolean Sets of Cylinders

Abstract

Numerical and analytical results on the permeability of Boolean models of randomly-oriented cylinders with circular cross-section are reported. The present work investigates cylinders of prolate (highly-elongated) and oblate (nearly flat) types. The fluid flows either inside or outside of the cylinders. The Stokes flow is solved using full-fields Fourier-based computations on 3D binarized microstructures. The permeability is given for varying volume fractions of pores. A new upper-bound is derived for the permeability of the Boolean model of oblate cylinders. The behavior of the permeability in the dilute limit is discussed.