Capillary driven flow through Bio-inspired Hierarchical Anisotropic Porous Structures - BioCap-Flow

Capillary driven flow is essential in both nature and technology, aiding in everything from plant nutrition to function of a dish cloth.

The flow is especially complex for flow into pore networks in natural and fibre-based materials that have multiple scales and are anisotropic like plants and fabrics used for fibre reinforced composites.

The aim of this initiative is to employ cutting-edge experimental methods and computational techniques, alongside theoretical modelling to thoroughly understand and be able to describe the dynamics of liquid transport in bio-inspired, anisotropic hierarchical porous structures.

The purpose is to contribute to an increased usage of biobased materials and thereby contribute to the green transition.

Central for the research is measurements of the flow with micro-PIV and X-ray micro tomography where measurements with the second equipment will be unique as such.

This is complemented with analytical and numerical derivations and additional flow experiments with a synchrotron (MaxIV).

The project is structured into three research work-packages, each targeting specific objectives: i) Deriving capillary actions importance for competing flows in relevant geometries. ii) Revealing flow in natural porous media laying grounds for bio-inspired geometries. iii) Create and analyse porous structures inspired by biology, such as those with enhanced permeability and capillary performance.

A strong team will support the work mainly carried out by a PhD-student.