Poromechanics

Poromechanics is a branch of physics and specifically continuum mechanics that studies the behavior of fluid-saturated porous media. A porous medium or a porous material is a solid (referred to as matrix) permeated by an interconnected network of pores or voids filled with a fluid. In general, the fluid may be composed of liquid or gas phases or both. In the simplest case, both the solid matrix and the pore space occupy two separate, continuously connected domains, such as in a kitchen sponge. Some porous media has a more complex microstructure in which, for example, the pore space is disconnected. Pore space that is unable to exchange fluid with the exterior is termed occluded pore space. Alternatively, in the case of granular porous media, the solid phase may constitute disconnected domains, termed the "grains", which are load-bearing under compression, though can flow when sheared.

Natural substances including rocks, soils, biological tissues including plants, heart, and cancellous bone, and man-made materials such as foams, gels, ceramics, and concrete can be considered as porous media. Porous materials share common coupled processes such as diffusion and consolidation, hydration and swelling, drying and shrinkage, heating and build-up of pore pressure, freezing and spalling, capillarity and cracking. Porous media whose solid matrix is elastic and the fluid is viscous are called poroelastic. The structural properties of a porous medium is characterized by its porosity, pore size and shape, connectivity, and specific surface area. The physical (mechanical, hydraulic, thermal) properties of a porous media are determined by its microstructure as well as the properties of its constituents (solid matrix and fluid). The distribution of pores across multiple scales as well as the pressure of the fluid with which they are filled give rise to distinct poromechanical behavior of the bulk. Porous media whose pore space is filled with a single fluid phase, typically a liquid, is considered to be saturated. Porous media whose pore space is only partially fluid is a fluid is known to be unsaturated.