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Physical Explanation of Archie's Porosity Exponent in Granular Materials: A Process‐Based, Pore‐Scale Numerical Study

Physical Explanation of Archie's Porosity Exponent in Granular Materials: A Process‐Based,... The empirical Archie's law has been widely used in geosciences and engineering to explain the measured electrical resistivity of many geological materials, but its physical basis has not been fully understood yet. In this study, we use a pore‐scale numerical approach combining discrete element‐finite difference methods to study Archie's porosity exponent m of granular materials over a wide porosity range. Numerical results reveal that at dilute states (e.g., porosity ϕ > ~65%), m is exclusively related to the particle shape and orientation. As the porosity decreases, the electric flow in pore space concentrates progressively near particle contacts and m increases continuously in response to the intensified nonuniformity of the local electrical field. It is also found that the increase in m is universally correlated with the volume fraction of pore throats for all the samples regardless of their particle shapes, particle size range, and porosities. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Geophysical Research Letters Wiley

Physical Explanation of Archie's Porosity Exponent in Granular Materials: A Process‐Based, Pore‐Scale Numerical Study

Geophysical Research Letters , Volume 45 (4) – Jan 28, 2018

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References (52)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0094-8276
eISSN
1944-8007
DOI
10.1002/2017GL076751
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The empirical Archie's law has been widely used in geosciences and engineering to explain the measured electrical resistivity of many geological materials, but its physical basis has not been fully understood yet. In this study, we use a pore‐scale numerical approach combining discrete element‐finite difference methods to study Archie's porosity exponent m of granular materials over a wide porosity range. Numerical results reveal that at dilute states (e.g., porosity ϕ > ~65%), m is exclusively related to the particle shape and orientation. As the porosity decreases, the electric flow in pore space concentrates progressively near particle contacts and m increases continuously in response to the intensified nonuniformity of the local electrical field. It is also found that the increase in m is universally correlated with the volume fraction of pore throats for all the samples regardless of their particle shapes, particle size range, and porosities.

Journal

Geophysical Research LettersWiley

Published: Jan 28, 2018

Keywords: ; ; ; ;

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