Infiltration of a Fluid Into a Dry Poro-Elastic Body

Abstract

The infiltration of a fluid into a dry poro-elastic body, of infinite extent, from its cylindrical or spherical cavity and the resulting mechanical behaviors are investigated. Since the problem is a moving boundary problem, and therefore, an essentially nonlinear one, the finite-difference scheme with the aid of the boundary fixing method is applied to obtain the solution. The results thus obtained for sandstone are compared with those for a porous rigid body as well as with those in a situation where a fluid pervades the whole body from the outset. These comparisons show that the extent of the infiltration front into the body is adequately predicted by the rigid skeleton model and that the actual stress distribution is remarkably different from that which exists if fluid pervades the whole body from the outset.