Porefluiddriven

Porefluiddriven is a term used to describe processes and phenomena in which the dynamics of fluids contained in the pore spaces of a solid matrix control or drive mechanical response, transport, or chemical evolution. It emphasizes the coupled interaction between pore fluid pressure and the solid phase, rather than fluid flow in free space.

In porous media, fluid movement is commonly described by Darcy's law, linking flow rate to pressure gradients through permeability. When the fluid pressure changes, it alters the effective stress on the solid skeleton, leading to deformation, instabilities, or fracture under poroelastic or hydro-mechanical coupling. Capillary forces, osmotic gradients, and multi-phase interfaces can further modify the porefluiddriven driving forces, causing imbibition or drainage.

The concept is central in geoscience and engineering. In geology and hydrology, porefluiddriven processes control aquifer recharge, sediment compaction, and pore-pressure diffusion during earthquakes. In civil engineering and petroleum engineering, porefluiddriven effects influence soil liquefaction, reservoir compaction, fracture propagation, and enhanced oil recovery. In biomaterials, water uptake in porous scaffolds or hydrogels can drive swelling and nutrient transport.

Mathematically, porefluiddriven behavior is modeled with poroelasticity or poromechanics frameworks, such as Biot's theory, which couples fluid mass conservation with momentum balance and permeability. These models track pore pressure, deformation, porosity, and permeability, often requiring numerical methods for heterogeneous or multiphase conditions. Measurement challenges include in-situ pore pressure estimation and resolving pore-scale versus continuum-scale dynamics.

See also: poroelasticity, Darcy's law, capillarity, multiphase flow, aquifer mechanics.