arXiv subjects

Juan J. Hidalgo

Publications and source records attributed to Juan J. Hidalgo.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Laminar and Turbulent Flow in Wavy Pipes under Strong Wall Modulations

We study laminar, transitional and turbulent flow in wavy pipes using direct numerical simulations for bulk Reynolds numbers between 1-5300. Flow behaviors are analyzed in terms of the friction factor f and mean velocity statistics for strong sinusoidal wall fluctuations in axial direction. Depending on the wall amplitude k, flow reversal may appear at bulk Reynolds numbers as small as 25, inducing local recirculation zones significantly increasing friction in the laminar regime. These effects are not captured by classical models based on bulk geometric parameters, but require the definition of an effective hydraulic radius Rh as a hydrodynamic concept. Furthermore, wall modulations trigger subcritical transitions to turbulence in a Reynolds range between 500 and 1000, well below the classical threshold for smooth pipes. The DNS data suggest an upper bound for laminar persistence with a critical Reynolds number that scales as a power-law with the wall amplitude, consistent with finite amplitude transition scenarios. In the turbulent regime, flow is found to be fully rough, dominated by inertial separation and wall-induced disturbances independent of Re. Using the hydraulic radius as the characteristic length scale, the wall amplitude provides a robust estimator for the equivalent sandgrain roughness, also a hydrodynamic concept. The impact of strong wall fluctuations on laminar and turbulent friction laws, as quantified by hydraulic radius and sandgrain roughness , and the amplitude dependence of critical Reynolds number, emphasise the limitations of the Moody diagram for the flow quantification in conduits with strong wall fluctuations across all flow regimes.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2026

Mixing and spreading of gravity currents in heterogeneous porous media

We analyze the mixing, migration and spreading of a gravity current in a heterogeneous porous medium using high-fidelity numerical simulations. Heterogeneity is represented by log-normal permeability fields of varying correlation lengths and variance. Stable and unstable density stratification scenarios are considered through linear and non-monotonic density laws, respectively. Heterogeneity reduces dissolution and increases the speed of the gravity current proportionally to the Rayleigh number. In the unstable case, heterogeneity accelerates the onset of convection. Convection-driven dissolution slows down the gravity current and counteracts the dispersive effect of heterogeneity resulting in a narrower interface and higher dissolution than in the stable case. Permeability anisotropy reduces dissolution because of the barrier effect of low permeability regions, except when blobs of buoyant fluid are trapped in low permeability structures and rapidly dissolve. The variance of the log-permeability field enhances dissolution. However, the homogeneous case outperforms heterogeneous cases except when Rayleigh number is small. This suggest an interaction between the size of the instabilities, the correlation length of the permeability field and the dispersive and barrier effects of the permeability field that controls dissolution efficiency.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

openKARST: A novel open-source flow simulator for karst systems

We introduce the open-source Python-based code openKARST for flow in karst conduit networks. Flow and transport in complex karst systems remain a challenging area of hydrogeological research due to the heterogeneous nature of conduit networks. Flow regimes in these systems are highly dynamic, with transitions from free-surface to fully pressurized and laminar to turbulent flow conditions and Reynolds numbers often exceeding one million. These transitions can occur simultaneously within a network, depending on conduit roughness properties and diameter distributions. openKARST solves the transient dynamic wave equation using an iterative scheme and is optimized through an efficient vectorized structure. Transitions from free-surface to pressurized flows in smooth and rough circular conduits are realized via a Preissmann slot approach in combination with an implementation of the Darcy--Weisbach and Manning equations to compute friction losses. To mitigate numerical fluctuations commonly encountered in the Colebrook--White equation, the dynamic switching from laminar to turbulent flows is modeled with a continuous Churchill formulation for the friction factor computation. openKARST supports common boundary conditions encountered in karst systems, as and includes functionalities for network import, export and visualization. The code is verified via comparison against several analytical solutions and validated against a laboratory experiment. Finally, we demonstrate the application of openKARST by simulating a synthetic recharge event in one of the largest explored karst networks, the Ox Bel Ha system in Mexico.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Impact of porous media heterogeneity on convective mixing in a Rayleigh-Bénard instability

This work studies the effect of the heterogeneity of a porous medium on convective mixing. We consider a system where a Rayleigh-Bénard instability is triggered by a temperature difference between the top and bottom boundaries. Heterogeneity is represented by multi-Gaussian log-normally distributed permeability fields. We explore the effect of the Rayleigh number, the variance and correlation length of the log-permeability field on the fingering patterns, heat flux, mixing state and flow structure. Heat flux increases for all heterogeneous cases compared to the homogeneous ones. When heterogeneity is weak and the horizontal correlation length small, flux exhibits minimal sensitivity to the variance of the log-permeability. When the correlation length increases, flux increases proportionally to the log-permeability variance. The mixing state is evaluated through the temperature variance and the intensity of segregation. Both take higher values, compared to their homogeneous analogues, when the correlation length and the variance of the permeability are increased. This indicates that even if heat flux increases, the system is less well mixed. The flow structure shows that in homogeneous and weakly heterogeneous cases there is a relation between the location of high strain rate and stagnation point, while for strongly heterogeneous cases, high strain rate zones are linked to high permeability areas near the boundaries, where temperature plume originate. The interface width tends to decrease as the variance and the correlation length of the permeability field are augmented, suggesting that the interface undergoes a higher stretching in heterogeneous porous media.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Effect of permeability heterogeneity on reactive convective dissolution

The impact of permeability heterogeneity on reactive buoyancy-driven convective dissolution is analyzed numerically in the case of a bimolecular A+B$\to$C reaction across varying Rayleigh numbers. The convective dynamics is compared in homogeneous, horizontally stratified, vertically stratified, and log-normally distributed permeability fields. Key variables, such as the total amount of product, mixing length, front position and width, reaction and scalar dissipation rates, and dissolution fluxes, are strongly influenced by the type of permeability heterogeneity. Vertically stratified and log-normally distributed permeability fields lead to larger values for all parameters compared to homogeneous fields. Horizontally stratified fields act as an obstacle to convective flow, resulting in slower front progression, thicker fingers, wider reaction fronts, and the lowest dissolution fluxes among all cases. When the reaction stabilizes convection, flow stagnation occurs near the extremum of the non-monotonic density profile, even in vertically stratified systems, highlighting the complex interaction between reactions and dissolution-driven convection. In log-normally distributed fields, the flow behavior depends on the permeability structure: smaller horizontal correlation lengths cause fingers to spread more horizontally, while larger horizontal correlation lengths promote more vertical movement with shorter wavelengths. Overall, a shorter horizontal correlation length relative to the vertical one leads to an increase in the value of all aforementioned parameters and thus to a more efficient mixing. These findings reveal how heterogeneity affects convective dynamics by influencing the reaction front, dissolution rates, mixing behavior, and mass transport efficiency, emphasizing the intricate role of permeability structure in reactive convective processes.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Experimental and numerical study of CO$_{2}$ dissolution in a heterogeneous Hele-Shaw cell

We investigate the convective instability resulting from the dissolution of carbon dioxide (CO$_{2}$) into water in a heterogeneous Hele-Shaw cell utilizing both experimental and numerical approaches. Experiments are conducted in a Hele-Shaw cell with a variable gap width corresponding to a log-normally distributed permeability of variance $σ_{\log K}^2 = 0.135$. Two mean gaps (370 $μ$m and 500 $μ$m) with the same correlation lengths ($λ_x$ = 0.032 m and $λ_z$ = 0.016 m) are considered. Experiments in homogeneous cells with a constant gap are also performed. The CO$_2$ partial pressure ($P_{\text{CO}_{2}}$) is varied between $12\%\pm 1\%$ (0.12 bar) and $85\%\pm 1\%$ (0.85 bar). The convective patterns are visualized using Bromocresol green. The effect of the heterogeneity on the instability is analyzed through its wavenumber, amplitude and growth rate. There is a good agreement between the experimental and numerical results. Fingers appear more dispersive and distorted in the heterogeneous media. Heterogeneous cases display a larger instability amplitude, faster growth rate and smaller dimensionless wavenumber. This reflects that heterogeneity accelerates the instability and the merging of the fingers. A comparison of the autocorrelation function of the fingering patterns and the permeability field shows that heterogeneity increases the dimensionless correlation length of the fingering pattern, which slows down its growth when its size becomes comparable to the heterogeneity.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

Efficient pore space characterization based on the curvature of the distance map

Media classification and the construction of pore network models from binary images of porous media hinges on accurately characterizing the pore space. We present an efficient method for (i) locating critical points, that is, pore body and throat centers, and (ii) partitioning of the pore space using information on the curvature of the distance map (DM) of the binary image. Specifically, we use the local maxima and minima of the determinant map of the Hessian matrix of the DM to locate the center of pore bodies and throats. The locating step provides structural information on the pore system, such as pore body and throat size distributions and the mean coordination number. The partitioning step is based on the eigenvalues of the Hessian, rather than the DM, to characterize the pore space using either watershed or medial axis transforms. This strategy eliminates the common problem of saddle-induced over-partitioning shared by all traditional marker-based watershed methods and represents an efficient method to determine the skeleton of the pore space without the need for morphological reconstruction.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2024

Singular Value Decomposition for Single-Phase Flow and Cluster Identification in Heterogeneous Pore Networks

Pore networks play a key role in understanding and quantifying flow and transport processes in complex porous media. Realistic pore-spaces may be characterized by singular regions, i.e., isolated subnetworks that do not connect inlet and outlet, resulting from unconnected porosity or multiphase configurations. The robust identification of these features is critical for the characterization of network topology and the solution of the set of linear equations of flow and transport. We propose a robust method based on singular value decomposition to solve for network flow and locate isolated subnetworks simultaneously. The method's performance is demonstrated for networks of different complexity.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2024

Pore network models to determine flow statistics and structural controls in variably saturated porous media

Conceptualizing a porous media as a network of conductors sets a compromise between the oversimplifying conceptualization of the media as a bundle of capillary tubes and the computationally expensive and unobtainable detailed description of the media's geometry needed for direct numerical simulations. These models are abundantly being used to evaluate single and multiphase flow characteristics. The different flow characteristics are valuable in evaluating phenomena that may or may not be relevant for different applications. Here, we evaluate how different information about the pore space affects the ability of the network model to evaluate different flow characteristics.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Transport under advective trapping

Advective trapping occurs when solute enters low velocity zones in heterogeneous porous media. Classical local modeling approaches combine the impact of slow advection and diffusion into a hydrodynamic dispersion coefficient and many temporally non-local approaches lump these mechanisms into a single memory function. This joint treatment makes parameterization difficult and thus prediction of large scale transport a challenge. Here we investigate the mechanisms of advective trapping and their impact on transport in media composed of a high conductivity background and isolated low permeability inclusions. Breakthrough curves show that effective transport changes from a streamtube-like behavior to genuine random trapping as the degree of disorder of the inclusion arrangement increases. We upscale this behavior using a Lagrangian view point, in which idealized solute particles transition over a fixed distance at random advection times combined with Poissonian advective trapping events. We discuss the mathematical formulation of the upscaled model in the continuous time random walk and mobile-immobile mass transfer frameworks, and derive a model for large scale solute non-Fickian dispersion. These findings give new insight into transport in highly heterogeneous media.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

Competition is the underlying mechanism controlling viscous fingering and wormhole growth

Viscous fingering and wormhole growth are complex nonlinear unstable phenomena. We view both as the result of competition for water in which the capacity of an instability to grow depends on its ability to carry water. We derive empirical solutions to quantify the finger/wormhole flow rate in single-, two-, and multiple-finger systems. We use these solutions to show that fingering and wormhole patterns are a deterministic result of competition. For wormhole growth, controlled by dissolution, we solve re-active transport analytically within each wormhole to compute dissolution at the wormhole walls and tip. The generated patterns (both for viscous fingering and wormhole growth under moderate Damk ohler values) follow a power law decay of the number of fingers/wormholes with depth with an exponent of -1 consistent with field observations

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Mechanisms of Dispersion in a Porous Medium

This paper studies the mechanisms of dispersion in the laminar flow through the pore space of a $3$-dimensional porous medium. We focus on pre-asymptotic transport prior to the asymptotic hydrodynamic dispersion regime, in which solute motion may be described by the average flow velocity and a hydrodynamic dispersion coefficient. High performance numerical flow and transport simulations of solute breakthrough at the outlet of a sand-like porous medium evidence marked deviations from the hydrodynamic dispersion paradigm and identifies two distinct regimes. The first regime is characterized by a broad distribution of advective residence times in single pores. The second regime is characterized by diffusive mass transfer into low-velocity region in the wake of solute grains. These mechanisms are quantified systematically in the framework of a time-domain random walk for the motion of marked elements (particles) of the transported material quantity. The model is parameterized with the characteristics of the porous medium under consideration and captures both pre-asymptotic regimes. Macroscale transport is described by an integro-differential equation for solute concentration, whose memory kernels are given in terms of the distribution of mean pore velocities and trapping times. This approach quantifies the physical non-equilibrium caused by a broad distribution of mass transfer time scales, both advective and diffusive, on the representative elementary volume (REV). Thus, while the REV indicates the scale at which medium properties like porosity can be uniquely defined, this does not imply that transport can be characterized by hydrodynamic dispersion.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

Mixing across fluid interfaces compressed by convective flow in porous media

We study the mixing in the presence of convective flow in a porous medium. Convection is characterized by the formation of vortices and stagnation points, where the fluid interface is stretched and compressed enhancing mixing. We analyze the behavior of the mixing dynamics in different scenarios using an interface deformation model. We show that the scalar dissipation rate, which is related to the dissolution fluxes, is controlled by interfacial processes, specifically the equilibrium between interface compression and diffusion, which depends on the flow field configuration. We consider different scenarios of increasing complexity. First, we analyze a double-gyre synthetic velocity field. Second, a Rayleigh-Bénard instability (the Horton-Rogers-Lapwood problem), in which stagnation points are located at a fixed interface. This system experiences a transition from a diffusion controlled mixing to a chaotic convection as the Rayleigh number increases. Finally, a Rayleigh-Taylor instability with a moving interface, in which mixing undergoes three different regimes: diffusive, convection dominated, and convection shutdown. The interface compression model correctly predicts the behavior of the systems. It shows how the dependency of the compression rate on diffusion explains the change in the scaling behavior of the scalar dissipation rate. The model indicates that the interaction between stagnation points and the correlation structure of the velocity field is also responsible for the transition between regimes. We also show the difference in behavior between the dissolution fluxes and the mixing state of the systems. We observe that while the dissolution flux decreases with the Rayleigh number, the system becomes more homogeneous. That is, mixing is enhanced by reducing diffusion. This observation is explained by the effect of the instability patterns.

physics.flu-dyn↗