Um modelo físico-matemático para escoamentos em meios porosos com transição insaturado-saturado.

Abstract

This work is concerned with a new mathematical modelling for describing the flow of an incompressible fluid (a liquid) through a rigid, homogeneous and isotropic porous medium, from a Continuum Mixtures point of view. The phenomenon is regarded as the motion of a mixture composed by three overlaping continuous constituents: the first one representing the porous matrix, the second one representing the liquid and the third one representing a (very) low density gas. The proposed mathematical modelling allows a realistic mathematical description for the unsaturated/saturated transition process by means of a combination between a system of partial differential equations and an inequality. This inequality represents a geometrical constraint arising from the liquid incompressibility merged with the porous matrix rigidity. The simulation of some interesting particular cases is carried out presenting a comparison between the obtained results and the classical ones, showing the consequences of disregarding the constraints associated to the phenomenon.