Impact of pore distribution characteristics on percolation threshold based on site percolation theory

• Published in: Physica A 2021-05, Vol.570, p.125800, Article 125800
• Main Authors: Huang, Xudong, Yang, Dong, Kang, Zhiqin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 2D and 3D porous media; Finite-size scaling technique; Pore distribution characteristics; Site percolation threshold
• ISSN: 0378-4371; 1873-2119
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2021.125800

In order to better simulate the porous media with different pore distribution characteristics, this paper introduced a pore distribution factor m (m represents the randomly generated pore volume in the site percolation model, which is expressed by the number of sites)into the classic site percolation model. On this basis, the influence of pore distribution characteristics of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) porous media on the percolation threshold is studied using numerical simulations. The study found that, when the porosity is the same, larger the value of m, smaller the number of pores in both the simulated 2D and 3D porous media. The decrease in the number of pores leads to the changes in the pore volume distribution characteristics. The shape of each pore, generated using the simulation in this paper, is random, due to which, larger the value of m is, easier it is for pores to merge to form larger pore clusters, which result in a reduction in the percolation threshold. The percolation threshold of 2D (lattice type: square) and 3D (lattice type: simple cubic) site percolation models decreases with the increase in the value of m. When the value of m is unity, the percolation thresholds of 2D and 3D porous media are found to be 59.27% and 31.16%, respectively, which are in agreement with the existing research results. When the value of m increases to 40, the percolation thresholds of 2D and 3D porous media decrease to 38.38% and 8.65%, respectively. Therefore, the pore connectivity of porous media is determined by the porosity and the pore distribution characteristics, whereas the pore connectivity of porous media can be misjudged if only porosity is taken into account. •A new filling method different from RSA is proposed.•We presented an extension of the classic site percolation theory.•The pore connectivity depends on porosity and pore distribution characteristics.•The percolation threshold is affected by pore distribution characteristics.