Modelling of Power-law Fluid Flow Through Porous Media Using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

The flow of non-Newtonian fluids through two-dimensional porous media is analyzed at the pore scale using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method. A fully explicit projection method is used to simulate incompressible flow. This study focuses on a shear-thinning power-law model (n < 1), though the method is sufficiently general to include other stress-shear rate relationships. The capabilities of the proposed method are demonstrated by analyzing a Poiseuille problem at low Reynolds numbers. Two test cases are also solved to evaluate validity of Darcy’s law for power-law fluids and to investigate the effect of anisotropy at the pore scale. Results show that the proposed algorithm can accurately simulate non-Newtonian fluid flows in porous media.