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porosity studies
_who: thomas t. jensen_where: aarch_when: 2008_what: a porous medium or a porous material is a solid (often called frame or matrix) permeated by an interconnected
network of pores (voids) filled with a fluid (liquid or gas). usually both the solid matrix and the pore network (also known as the pore space) are assumed to be continuous, so as to form two interpenetrating continua such as in a sponge. many natural substances such as rocks, soils,
biological tissues (e.g. bones), and man made materials such as cements, foams and ceramics can be considered
as porous media. a poroelastic medium is characterised by its porosity, permeability as well as the properties of its constituents (solid matrix and fluid). the concept of porous media is used in many areas of
applied science and engineering: mechanics (acoustics, geomechanics, soil mechanics, rock mechanics), engineering (petroleum engineering, construction engineering), geosciences (hydrogeology, petroleum geology, geophysics),
biology and biophysics, material science, etc. fluid flow
through porous media is a subject of most common interest and has emerged a separate field of study. the study of more general behaviour of porous media involving deformation
of the solid frame is called poromechanics. porosity is a measure of the void spaces in a material,
and is measured as a fraction, between 0–1, or as a percentage between 0–100%. the term is used in multiple
fields including ceramics, metallurgy, materials, manufacturing, earth sciences and construction.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porousity