Application of the GMR permeability method to artificial geometries and micro‑CT rock samples
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17794/rgn.2026.5.6Keywords:
permeability, PNM, pore network geometry, hydraulic radius, geometric mean radiusAbstract
Permeability in porous media is controlled by complex interactions between pore morphology, topology with pore connectivity, and flow-path constrictions across multiple spatial scales. To address this, we developed and tested a geometric mean radius (GMR) permeability method on both idealized and micro-CT derived pore geometries. The GMR workflow treats the segmented pore space as a sequence of cross sections orthogonal to a prescribed flow direction, computes pore scale hydraulic radii from area and perimeter and combines them into a geometric mean radius along connected flow paths. Serial and parallel flow relations are then used to propagate local conductance through parent–child pore connections, accounting for pore branching, merging, and tortuous flow paths.
Controlled tube-like models are used to isolate the effects of pore roughness, cross-sectional shape complexity, flow-path constrictions, and network branching. Permeability predictions are evaluated for both simple geometries as well as real rock samples by using OpenLB and solvers found in Pergeos software.
Additional geometric analysis shows that weighted shape factor and coordination number correlate systematically with both permeability and the performance of the GMR model. Overall, the results demonstrate that GMR provides a computationally efficient and geometrically interpretable alternative to full pore scale flow simulation when applied within a clearly defined range of connectivity and resolution.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Marko Gaćina, Domagoj Vulin
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