Pattern Formation in Fluid Injection into a Dense Granular Medium

Sponsors: Schlumberger, Itasca, ACS PRF, NSF

Students:

A series of physical experiments in a Hele-Shaw cell-like configuration have been conducted to verify such the conceptual hypothesis that in the regimes beyond injection permeation, there must exist a transition from the solid-like response in the form of hydraulic fracturing to the fluid-like response in the form of viscous fingering.