Natural porous structures are heterogeneous with multiple scales that are distributed nonuniformly. Few large pores (fissures, channels, and cracks) are accompanied by numerous finer channels. Can this type of flow architecture be attributed to a principle of maximization of global flow access? Features similar to those of multiscale porous structures are exhibited by tree-shaped flow structures. Trees have been deduced from the maximization of flow access between a point and a volume, a point and an area, and a point and a curve (e.g., circle). In this paper we invoke the same principle and consider fundamentally the question of how to bathe with minimal flow resistance a microchannel structure that globally behaves as a porous medium. We develop completely multiscale configurations that guide the flow from one side of the porous structure to the other (line to line and plane to plane) and show analytically the advantages of tree structures over the usual stacks of parallel microchannels. The “porous medium” that has tree-shaped labyrinths is heterogeneous, with multiple scales that are distributed nonuniformly. These features justify comparisons with the design of natural porous structures.
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1 December 2006
Research Article|
December 07 2006
Heterogeneous porous media as multiscale structures for maximum flow access
Sylvie Lorente;
Sylvie Lorente
Laboratoire Matériaux et Durabilité des Constructions, Département de Génie Civil,
Institut National des Sciences Appliquées
, 135 Avenue de Rangueil, 31077 Toulouse, France
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Adrian Bejan
Adrian Bejan
a)
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science,
Duke University
, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0300
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a)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
J. Appl. Phys. 100, 114909 (2006)
Article history
Received:
August 22 2006
Accepted:
September 13 2006
Citation
Sylvie Lorente, Adrian Bejan; Heterogeneous porous media as multiscale structures for maximum flow access. J. Appl. Phys. 1 December 2006; 100 (11): 114909. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2396842
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