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Capillary-Driven Flow Through Biological Porous Media: X-ray Microtomography and Computational Fluid Dynamics
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Fluid and Experimental Mechanics.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1033-0244
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Fluid and Experimental Mechanics.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8360-9051
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Fluid and Experimental Mechanics.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8235-9639
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Fluid and Experimental Mechanics.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7395-3302
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2025 (English)In: Transport in Porous Media, ISSN 0169-3913, E-ISSN 1573-1634, Vol. 152, no 12, article id 101Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This study investigates the use of X-ray microtomography (XMT) to reveal the structure of complex porous biological tissues and the fluid flow through them during wetting. It also evaluates fluid dynamical simulations based on XMT data to reproduce and analyse these flows, with a final aim of revealing fluid transport and void formation in such tissues. To fulfil the objectives, the wetting flow of a polymer liquid through an initially dry conditioned Norway spruce wood sample is visualised using XMT at the MAX IV synchrotron. The liquid flow front progression captured after 24 s and 48 s reveals uneven filling of longitudinal tracheids and flow between them via the tiny pits which connect tracheids. Most tracheids fill between 24 and 48 s, possibly due to removal of air inclusions. Large density gradients near cell walls suggest that the fluid followed and deposited along wall structures. Computational fluid dynamics simulations (CFD) of saturated flow through the tomography-based geometry indicate velocity profiles that resemble pipe flow in longitudinal tracheids and flow rate differences among them. The latter indicates that the geometry itself may cause the experimentally observed uneven flow. Streamlines show intra-tracheid flow development and clear flow direction change at the pits. Additionally, wetting simulations, using a constant contact angle, capture initial uneven filling between the tracheids on shorter time scales than could be capture by the experiments. These simulations furthermore show air entrapment during filling, consistent with experimental observations. Combining XMT with CFD enables detailed studies of flow in biological porous media. Faster X-ray scanning, incorporating dynamic contact angles and accounting for diffusion in simulations could further refine insights into fluid progression during capillary-driven flow into complex structures of porous biological tissues.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Nature, 2025. Vol. 152, no 12, article id 101
Keywords [en]
Softwood structure, Liquid fluid transport, Capillary action, X-ray tomography, Computational fluid dynamics
National Category
Fluid Mechanics
Research subject
Fluid Mechanics; Wood and Bionanocomposites; Wood Science and Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-115421DOI: 10.1007/s11242-025-02238-5ISI: 001596601700001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105019064102OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-115421DiVA, id: diva2:2015344
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2024-04195Swedish Research Council, 2022-03946Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, WISE-AP01-PD24Bio4EnergySwedish Research Council, 2018-07152Vinnova, 2018-04969Swedish Research Council Formas, 2019-02496
Note

Validerad;2025;Nivå 2;2025-11-20 (u4);

Fulltext license: CC BY

Available from: 2025-11-20 Created: 2025-11-20 Last updated: 2025-11-20Bibliographically approved

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Lundström, T. StaffanHellström, J. Gunnar I.Ljung, Anna-LenaForsberg, FredrikLycksam, HenrikMashkour, MehrdadSingh, MandeepOksman, KristiinaHuber, Johannes A. J.

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Lundström, T. StaffanHellström, J. Gunnar I.Ljung, Anna-LenaForsberg, FredrikLycksam, HenrikMashkour, MehrdadSingh, MandeepOksman, KristiinaHuber, Johannes A. J.
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Fluid and Experimental MechanicsMaterial ScienceWood Science and Engineering
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