This CI project aims to understand and visualize how fluid flows through various porous materials and how the mesoscopic material properties influence flow process. Porous material is ubiquitous in nature and engineering and appears in many forms including sands, foams, and shredded tires. Understanding how fluid flows through various porous materials has important engineering implications. One example application that motivates this project is contaminant transport problem in porous materials: if there is an oil leakage from underground pipe line or if there is polluted underground water, how and where will the contaminate moves within the soil mass and what measures could be taken to guide and/or stop the flow contaminates. In this project, student will design and construct simple experimental devices to visualize and analyze flow process through various porous materials (geological materials such as soil, and man-made materials such as glass beads). Students will also have opportunities to learn basic theory behind the physical phenomenon and use computer tools (such as Matlab) to model and assist in understanding such process
