ANALYSIS OF FLOW IN POROUS MEDIA USING COMBINED PRESSURIZED-FREE SURFACE NETWORK

A network model is implemented to study the transition of flow in porous media. In this way, a real porous medium is simulated according to an orthogonal pipe network which was formed by some spheres that are connected to each other using a set of pipes. In this model the pipes play the role of existing ducts in porous medium, and the nodes (spheres) indicate existing holes in the place of duct junctions. The effects of variety in some hydraulic parameters are investigated in this model. Afterward, this network is analyzed by the combined pressurized-free surface network (CPFNET) method. The CPFNET model results were similar overall to the observed experimental data. Moreover, sensitive analyses were used based on several parameters. Due to all of them, the accuracy of this method is specified.