Effective Measurement of the Influence of an Ovoidal Particle Shape on the Tortuosity and Permeability: Theoretical and Numerical Studies

An ovoid is a common particle, which is usually formed by constant extrusion and friction during running water handling. However, there is still debate over how the form of ovoidal particles affects the tortuosity and water permeability of particle packing systems. The tortuosity and permeability of the particle packing system are examined in relation to the shape and volume fraction of the particles in this work. The ovoid particle packing system is built using the Monte Carlo approach, and the tortuosity is obtained numerically. Then, the accuracy of the tortuosity prediction model is evaluated by comparing the theoretical derived tortuosities with the simulated results in this work and other literature. By combining the widely used Kozeny–Carman (K-C) formula with the derived theoretical tortuosity prediction model, we develop a modified K-C formula to predict the permeability of ovoidal particle packing systems. By comparing the model outputs with published experimental data and self-conducted lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) numerical simulations, we verify that the modified K-C formula achieves high prediction accuracy. According to the findings, when the aspect ratio c/a rises, the tortuosity first decreases and then increases, and the permeability first increases and then decreases.