PHYSICAL REVIEW E 91, 053021 (2015)

Structural optimization of porous media for fast and controlled capillary flows

Dahua Shou* and Jintu Fan†

Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
(Received 24 January 2015; published 26 May 2015)
A general quantitative model of capillary flow in homogeneous porous media with varying cross-sectional
sizes is presented. We optimize the porous structure for the minimization of the penetration time under global
constraints. Programmable capillary flows with constant volumetric flow rate and linear evolution of flow distance
to time are also obtained. The controlled innovative flow behaviors are derived based on a dynamic competition
between capillary force and viscous resistance. A comparison of dynamic transport on the basis of the present
design with Washburn’s equation is presented. The regulation and maximization of flow velocity in porous
materials is significant for a variety of applications including biomedical diagnostics, oil recovery, microfluidic
transport, and water management of fabrics.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.91.053021 PACS number(s): 47.56.+r, 47.55.nb

I. INTRODUCTION
Imbibition in porous systems has attracted much scientific
and industrial interest, including micropatterns [1], nanofluidic
devices [2], microscopic morphology characterization [3],
textiles [4], oil recovery [5], and diagnostic testing [6]. The
dynamic imbibition of liquids through straight tubes, in terms
of capillary flow, has been quantified by a diffusive relationship
between the distance of the wetting front h and the time t, viz.,
h = (Dt)1/2 , where D is the diffusive coefficient depending
on the tube size and the liquid properties [7]. This correlation,
which holds in the early stage of capillary rise or when the
tube is placed horizontally, has been successfully extended to
characterize imbibition in the tortuous tube [8], the uniform
porous media [9], and the porous media with a wide pore size
distribution [10]. The fundamental effects of inertia [11,12],
front broadening [13,14], droplet absorption [15,16], droplet
breakup [17], and slip flow [18] have also been extensively
investigated.
A topic of emerging interest is the control and promotion of
imbibition speed in porous media, where the evolution of flow
distance to time is often different from Washburn’s equation.
The capillary imbibition of water in a conical tube has been
studied experimentally and theoretically, with h ∼ t 1/4 for
long durations [19]. The effect of expansion of the porous
medium on the two-dimensional (2D) radial flow in a paper
board has been investigated by Hyvaluoma et al. [20], where
the liquid front is presented by a gradually expanding circle.
The evolution of the advancing front with time is found to
follow a power law, while the exponent is equal to 0.73 [20].
The exponent of the wetting distance to time becomes 1/3 for
three-dimensional (3D) radial imbibition from a point source
in a homogeneous porous medium composed of glass beads,
and the proposed spherical expansion model fits experimental
data well [21]. Exact analytical models have been developed
for the capillary flow in 2D and 3D porous media with a
sudden expansion by Benner and Petsev [22]. It has been
shown that the bulk flow rate decreases the fastest in the
one-dimensional (1D) nonexpanding medium, less in the 2D
*
ds995@cornell.edu
† resistance will also increase, slowing the capillary penetration.
jf456@cornell.edu
expanding structure, and the least in the 3D case, whereas the
3D case retains a steady flow rate in the long run [22]. Recently,
optofluidic characterization has shown a clear asymmetry
of flow times for Newtonian flow from different ends of
conical tubes [23]. A similar phenomenon has been found for
non-Newtonian flows, with shear-thinning fluids strengthening
the asymmetry and shear-thickening fluids weakening it [24].
Capillary flow in two-layer packed beads [25] and two-section
rectangular strips [26] with a negative gradient of bead size
and strip width, respectively, has been found to be faster than
the flow from the opposite direction. The strong asymmetry in
penetration and evaporation of droplets across a thin double-
layer porous medium has also been investigated numerically
and experimentally [27].
The optimized porous structure that is endowed with the
fast and controlled capillary flow would undoubtedly be able
to function well in many applications. The minimum time
of the capillary penetration into a tube has been found with
respect to the solid and liquid surface tensions for the cases of
equilibrium contact angles and dynamic contact angles [28].
The penetration time is dependent on the product σl cos θi ,
where σl is the surface tension of the liquid, and θi is the
intrinsic contact angle and a function of surface tensions. It
has been shown that σl is increased for decreasing penetration
time, while the surface-tension-dependent cos θi may decline,
yielding the opposite effect. If one of the solid and liquid
surface tensions is predetermined, the minimum penetration
time is found against the other optimal surface tension [28].
In addition to optimization of material properties, optimizing
structural parameters also leads to the minimum penetration
time and faster imbibition [29–31]. It has been shown that
liquid imbibition in an optimized two-section tube is 30%
faster than that in a uniform tube with the same volume [29].
Transport in an optimized dichotomous tree network is also
much faster than in parallel uniform tubes, with the correlation
of flow distance to time expressed as h ∼ t, in contrast to
Washburn’s equation [30].
Following these studies in capillary race, we focus on the
dynamics of capillary flow in homogeneous porous media
with varying cross-sectional sizes. If the cross-sectional size
of the porous medium is enhanced, the flow will increase
due to higher capillary forces. However, the viscous flow

1539-3755/2015/91(5)/053021(6) 053021-1 ©2015 American Physical Society

DAHUA SHOU AND JINTU FAN
FIG. 1. (Color online) Schematic of a two-section rectangular porous medium, a trapezoidal porous medium, a presumed optimal porous
medium, and a multilayer porous medium (from left to right). They have the same upper width au , lower width al , thickness l, and length H .
An interesting question is therefore in what optimal structure
is the capillary flow fastest or programmable, considering
different responses of viscous resistance and capillary forces
to the cross-sectional size. In this paper, we optimize the shape
of porous media for the programmed flow (with the constant
volumetric flow rate or flow velocity) and the fastest flow (with
the minimum penetration time) based on a simple but effective
computational approach.
II. THEORY
A generalized porous medium consisting of homoge-
neously distributed particles (or beads) with a uniform
diameter dp is considered in this study. We also consider
imbibition in two widely used porous structures, two-section
rectangular and trapezoidal porous media, which are compared
with the optimal porous medium (see Fig. 1). In the three
structures, the upper width is au and the lower width is al ,
the thickness is l, and the total length or height is H . We
assume that au , al , l, and H are fixed as constraints, and au
and al are much smaller than H . Here, gravitational force is
ignored as the imbibition process occurs within a very short
duration or in the horizontal direction. The effects of inertia,
front broadening, and liquid loss due to evaporation are also
neglected, as we focus on promoting the speed of imbibition.
It is noted that the liquid front lines will not stay horizontal
when the fluid moves from one segment into the next that
has a different size. However, for the possible applications
such as biomedical diagnostics and functional fabrics which
we are interested in (see the next section), the porous media
have a high ratio between the length and the cross-sectional
size (i.e., width or thickness), and the cross-sectional size
decreases slowly along the penetration direction. As well, it
has been experimentally shown that the liquid front is laterally
moving in a two-section paper network with a contraction [26]
and in a long trapezoidal porous medium with decreasing
width [32]. Thus, it is reasonable to approximate that the
front of the liquid is uniformly advancing in these relatively
long porous media, which is close to the assumption made for
the uniform porous medium [9]. Another assumption has also
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PHYSICAL REVIEW E 91, 053021 (2015)
been made that the effective (apparent) contact angle of the
liquid in the homogeneous porous medium remains constant
and is not velocity dependent, which is consistent with many
experimental results [21,33,34] and numerical data [20].
The viscous flow in the porous medium is described by
Darcy’s law, or more exactly, the Kozeny-Carman equa-
tion [35], viz.,
Q ηh Q dh
ph = − with u= =
al K al dt
dp2 ε3
and K= , (1)
180(1 − ε)2
where ph is the hydrostatic pressure, η is the viscosity of
the liquid, u is the flow velocity, Q is the flow flux, a is
the width, h is the flow distance within the time t, ε is the
porosity, and K is the permeability of the porous medium.
This spontaneous imbibition is driven by capillary pressure
pc , which is expressed as −cγ /dp , where γ stands for the
(liquid-vapor) surface tension, and c is a function of cos θ
and a constant of the order of unity that depends on the pore
geometry [25]. Here, θ is the effective contact angle of the
liquid in the porous medium. It is evident that pc is constant
as the particle sizes are uniform for the given homogeneous
medium. The hydrostatic pressure drop is equal to the capillary
pressure. Thus we obtain the correlation of the time t to the flow
distance h in the rectangular porous medium by substituting
into Eq. (1), with h = 0 when t = 0:
h2
t= , (2)
2C
cγ d ε3
p
where C is a constant equal to 180(1−ε) 2 . A similar form was
η
obtained for capillary penetration in uniform porous media [9].
Based on Eq. (2), we find C independent of a for rectangular
porous media.
We then divide the presumed optimal structure into semi-
infinite layers of rectangular porous media, as shown in Fig. 1.
We assume the layers are packed tightly, so the flow resistance
between layers is negligible. The width and the length of the
STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION OF POROUS MEDIA FOR . . . PHYSICAL REVIEW E 91, 053021 (2015)

ith layer are ai and hi , respectively. The total number of layers to be optimized is n × n. To reduce the complexity of the
is n. Here, a1 and an areequal to al and au , respectively, and computation, we set the width difference between neighboring
the total length is H = ni=1 hi . The width ratio between the layers ai+1 − ai as a constant. Then we have ai+1 − ai =
upper and lower layers is given by R = au /al . The shape of the (an − a1 )/(n − 1), and the number of unknown parameters
porous medium is determined by ai and hi , and approximately reduces to n − 1 considering the constraint H = ni=1 hi .
smooth shapes can be generated when n is sufficiently large.
For the first layer with length h1 , we obtain the imbibition time III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
t1 equal to h21 /(2C) based on Eq. (2). For the imbibition in the
second layer, the capillary pressure is identical to the sum of We plot the dimensionless time Td versus the layer number
the hydrostatic pressures of the first layer and the wetted part n of the multilayer porous media in Fig. 2. The width ratios
of the second layer: between the upper and lower layers, R = au /al , vary from 1/2
  to 1/3 and then 1/4. The optimization of liquid imbibition on
cγ 180(1 − ε)2 ηa2 dh h1 h − h1 the basis of Eq. (8) is conducted by the Optimization Tool of
= + , (3)
dp dp2 ε3 dt a1 a2 MATLAB. Using constrained nonlinear minimization, we find a
minimizer of the scalar function of Td , with n variables 
of hi for
where the length of the wetted part in the second layer is
i = 1, 2, . . . , n. The global constraints include H = ni=1 hi
h − h1 .
and hi > H /(5n), which ensures that hi = 0 and the boundary
By integrating Eq. (3), we obtain the imbibition time for
of the porous medium is approximately and continuously
the second layer t2 when h increases from h1 to h1 + h2 :
  smooth when n is large. It is observed that Td decreases
1 2a2 h1 h2 drastically from single-layer (n = 1) to two-layer (n = 2)
t2 = + h2 .
2
(4)
2C a1 porous media and then decreases slowly to a constant with the
increase in n. The convergence of the curves in Fig. 2 indicates
In analogy, we calculate the imbibition time for the third that Td approaches its minimum value and the porous medium
layer t3 : for the fastest flow is found. We also calculate Td based on
 
1 2a3 h1 h3 2a3 h2 h3 constant hi+1 − hi and varying ai . The values of Td based on
t3 = + + h3 .
2
(5) the two approaches are slightly different but still close when n
2C a1 a2
is small. However, it is interesting to note that the two series
Following this procedure, we can obtain the imbibition time of Td are almost overlapped when n is sufficiently large, as the
for the nth layer, which is a function of the width and the length two approaches yield extremely close optimal results. When n
of all the wetted layers: is above 10, the values of Td with R = 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4 tend
 n−1  to be constants, viz., 0.743, 0.645, and 0.591, respectively.
1  an hn hi
tn = 2 + hn .
2
(6) Hence, the minimum Td is rather sensitive to R and imbibition
2C i=1
ai is significantly accelerated in the optimal porous media in
 comparison to that in the rectangular porous media. We note
Here, we set n−1i=1
an hn hi
ai
= 0 when n = 1. Based on Eq. (6), that when R = 1/2 and n = 2, the minimum Td is calculated
we obtain the total imbibition time T expressed as the time as 0.75, equal to results obtained experimentally [32]. As well,
sum of all layers: we find h1 = h2 = H /2 accounting for this optimal case. In
⎛ ⎞ comparison to the single-layer medium with uniform width,
1 ⎝   aj hj hi  2 ⎠
n n−1 n
T = 2 + hj . (7) the two-layer medium with decreasing width requires less
2C j =i+1 i=1
ai j =i
penetration time (i.e., Td < 1). This phenomenon is ascribed

The dimensionless imbibition time Td required for the

dimensionless distance hd , which is defined as h/H , is given
by
⎛ ⎞
T 1  n  n−1
aj hj hi  n
Td = = 2 ⎝2 + h2j ⎠ , (8)
tH H j =i+1 i=1
ai j =i

where tH is the imbibition time for the rectangular porous

medium with the length H , viz., H 2 /(2C). We try to find the
fastest flow or the minimum value of Td by varying ai and
hi . By analyzing Eq. (8), an extremely fast flow exists when
al is fixed with ai  ai+1 (or R  1), which is unrealistic
as the upper size may be smaller than the pore size of the
porous medium. In this work, we are concerned with the cases
based on al and au being in the same order, and we try to find
the optimal structure with an approximately smooth shape for
actual applications. It has been found that a decrease in ai leads FIG. 2. (Color online) Variation of the dimensionless time Td
to faster imbibition [32]. Thus we take into account ai > ai+1 against the layer number n of multilayer porous media with different
as a constraint. The number of the structural parameters width ratios R between the upper and lower layers.

053021-3
DAHUA SHOU AND JINTU FAN
FIG. 3. (Color online) Comparison of the dimensionless time
Td against the dimensionless distance hd between (a) two-section
rectangular, trapezoidal, and optimal porous media, and (b) optimal
porous media with different width ratios R.
to the wider, first layer of the two-layer medium providing
more source of fluid for the narrower, second layer, leading to
faster flow in the second layer based on Eq. (4). Besides, the
two-layer porous medium becomes a single-layer rectangular
porous medium at h1 = 0 or h1 = H , resulting in the same
penetration time or Td = 1. Consequently, there must be an
optimal value of h1 between 0 and H accounting for the
minimum Td according to Rolle’s theorem. The corresponding
length is optimally computed as h1 = H /2 based on our
model. With more layers, the distribution of hi is globally
optimized for the fastest imbibition, and the boundary of
the porous medium becomes smoother when n is extremely
large. As well, the fastest flow is expected to exist in the
porous structure without the constraint ai > ai+1 , if we fix the
maximum value of ai .
The speed of imbibition in the optimal structure with R =
1/4 is found to be 40% less than that in the single-layer,
uniform porous medium, as shown in Fig. 3(a). The imbibition
rate in the optimal porous medium is also faster than that in
the two-sectional and trapezoidal porous media with the same
R. For the two-sectional medium, the curve of Td against
hd is not smooth at hd = 0.5 because of the jump in a. In
Fig. 3(a), we also compare Td for these porous media when
the imbibition occurs from the opposite direction, viz., R = 4.
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PHYSICAL REVIEW E 91, 053021 (2015)
It is interesting to note that the imbibition in the two-section
rectangular porous medium is the slowest, followed by the
reversely located optimal structure, and then the trapezoidal
porous medium. In Fig. 3(b), the dynamic imbibition processes
in the optimal porous media with different width ratios R are
demonstrated. The minimum Td reduces with the decrease in
R, and the value of Td for hd = 1 is close to 0.5 when R = 1/8.
We notice that Td is approximately linear with hd in the
two-section rectangular porous medium in Fig. 3(b), indicating
much faster imbibition than that with R = 1 as quantified
by Washburn’s equation. This phenomenon of sustained flow
velocity is similar to the imbibition in rectangular membranes
appended to circular sections [34], which can be used as
microfluidic pumps [36]. However, the approximately sus-
tained flow exists within the rectangular element [34], and
the increase in width of the segments may lead to relatively
slow flow. Here, we try to find an accurately controlled and
fast flow with constant velocity of the liquid front. The flow
velocity is set to be equal to the spontaneous velocity of the
liquid front at the end of the first layer, so this programmed
velocity uc is determined by h1 as t is a function of h based
on Eq. (2), viz., uc = C/h1 . To make linear evolution of time
to flow distance, we have ti = ti+1 and hi = hi+1 when i  2.
As well, we assume hi  h1 , so the variations in ai tend to
be very small. Based on h2 /t2 = uc and Eq. (4), we have
a2 = a1 − f a1 /2, where f is the length ratio given by h2 /h1 .
Analogously, with ti = t2 and hi = h2 , ai is calculated based
on Eq. (6) when i  3,
1 − f2
ai =  . (9)
1
a1
+ f ji−1=2
1
aj
Thus, ai is a function of a1 , a2 , . . ., and ai−1 . Here, we set
the first layer with h1 = h0 and t1 = t0 as the control sample.
The model of the cross section based on Eq. (9) is in the form
of iterative algorithms. Only a simple computation is required
to determine the shape of the desired porous structures with
constant flow velocity. Furthermore, this iterative form can
be simply and flexibly extended to find the porous structure
with increasing or decreasing flow velocity. For instance,
we may derive an increasing velocity by assuming ti > ti+1
(e.g., ti = 1.1ti+1 ) and hi = hi+1 . Figure 4 shows that the
dimensionless time t/t0 required for the dimensionless flow
distance h/h0 increases linearly with h/h0 when f = 0.01, so
the dynamics transport deviates from Washburn’s equation. It
is noted that the accuracy of the values of ai can be increased
with decreasing f , while f = 0.01 is sufficiently small in
this case. The MATLAB codes are provided to determine the
shape of the porous medium with constant uc (h0 ) based on the
expression of ai in Eq. (9) (see Supplemental Material [37]).
Figure 4 indicates that the cross-sectional width decreases
dramatically with increasing h for retaining the constant
velocity. We also consider h1 = h0 /2 as a comparison to
h1 = h0 . It is demonstrated in Fig. 4 that smaller length of
the first layer leads to higher constrained velocity. We note
that the shape of the porous medium is not smooth at the end
of the first layer, but the boundary profiles of the following
layers become smooth when i  2.
In analogy, we also achieve a constant volumetric flow rate
by replacing hi = hi+1 with ai hi = ai+1 hi+1 . The volumetric
STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION OF POROUS MEDIA FOR . . . PHYSICAL REVIEW E 91, 053021 (2015)

FIG. 4. (Color online) Variations of the dimensionless time t/t0

against the dimensionless distance h/h0 . Linear evolution of time
to distance or a constant velocity uc is found in two porous
structures with different lengths of the first layer (i.e., h0 and h0 /2).
The dynamics transport in the uniform porous medium based on
Washburn’s equation is added for comparison.

flow rate Q at the flow distance h when i  2 is set to be equal

to that at the end of the first layer, which is given by Qc =
Q(h1 ) = a1 lC/h1 . With f = 0.01 and a2 = a1 − f a1 /2 in
the case of constant velocity, Q(h2 ) is found extremely close
to Q(h1 ). With the constant volumetric flow rate hi ai l/ti =
h2 a2 l/t2 , ai is obtained based on Eq. (6) when i  3,
1 − f2
ai =  . (10)
f i−1 1 0.5
1
a12
+ a1 j =2 aj

Figure 5 shows that the volumetric flow rate Q/Q0 becomes

a constant when h is greater than h1 or h0 , where Q0 is set as
the control sample that is equal to Q(h0 ). The corresponding

FIG. 6. (Color online) (a) Structures of the fastest porous media

with different width ratios R, and (b) their potential applications to
diagnostic assay and water management fabric.

shape of the porous medium is obtained based on Eq. (10) [37],

FIG. 5. (Color online) Variations of the dimensionless volumet-
ric flow rate Q/Q0 against the dimensionless distance h/h0 . Constant
flow rate Qc is found in two porous structures with different lengths
of the first layer (i.e., h0 and h0 /2). The dynamics transport in the
uniform porous medium based on Washburn’s equation is added for
comparison.
as is shown in Fig. 5. The decrease in cross-sectional width
with h for retaining the constant flow rate is less dramatic than
that for the constant flow velocity. When h1 is equal to h0 /2,
the constant volumetric flow rate Q(h0 /2) is twice Q(h0 ).
The volumetric flow rate in the single-layer uniform porous
medium follows Washburn’s equation and decreases with the
increase in h, which deviates from the flow rates in the present
designed porous media.
The optimal geometrical structures for the fastest imbibition
with different width ratios R are presented in Fig. 6(a).
The width of these porous media decreases slowly at first,
then converges dramatically in the middle area, and finally
reduces slowly. The variations in width are caused by the
optimal dynamic interplay between capillary pressure and
viscous effects. The fastest (or the slowest) and accurately
programmable diagnostic tests can be achieved with single or
multiple connected porous layers based on the present simple
design tool, as seen in Fig. 6(b). The programmable capillary

053021-5
DAHUA SHOU AND JINTU FAN
flow rate may also enable accurate propellant control in a pro-
pellant management device. Further, fabric with asymmetric
imbibition properties, enabling the fastest water absorption
from the skin to the outside but very slow penetration from
the opposite direction, can be manufactured by replacing the
optimal width with the cross-sectional area of porous yarns, as
shown in Fig. 6(b).
IV. CONCLUSION
To summarize, porous structures for the fastest and the
programmable capillary flows are designed based on structural
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PHYSICAL REVIEW E 91, 053021 (2015)
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014107 (2013).
[37] See Supplemental Material at http://link.aps.org/supplemental/
10.1103/PhysRevE.91.053021 for MATLAB codes used to
determine the shape of the porous structure.