Back to Input Deck Cards

MATERIAL_PROPERTY

Specifies material properties to be associated with a region in the problem domain.

Required Cards:

MATERIAL_PROPERTY <string>

Opens the card block. Can be followed by its name in a string.

NAME <string>

Name by which material property object may be identified/linked (usually follows MATERIAL_PROPERTY keyword).

ID <int>

ID by which material property object may be identified/linked. This is particularly useful when material ids are assigned on a cell by cell basis. Note that ID = 0 is reserved for inactive grid cells and cannot be used in this block. To inactivate a material that is assigned to a region, see the INACTIVE card under STRATA.

POROSITY <float>

Porosity of material [-].

POROSITY DATASET <string>

Porosity of material specified through a dataset.

PERMEABILITY <float>

Permability of material [m²]. See examples below.

ANISOTROPIC

Toggles on anisotropy. (This card is required for anisotropic permeability specified through DATASETs too. In that case, dataset_nameX, dataset_nameY and dataset_nameZ must be defined within the input file where “dataset_name” is the defined through the DATASET keyword.)

FULL_TENSOR

Toggles on full tensor anisotropy. Must be used along with the card ANISOTROPIC. (This card is required for off diagonal permeability component specified through PERMEABILITY_XY, PERMEABILITY_XZ, PERMEABILITY_YZ and DATASETs. In the latter case, dataset_nameXY, dataset_nameXZ and dataset_nameYZ must be defined within the input file where “dataset_name” is the defined through the DATASET keyword)

ISOTROPIC

Toggle off anisotropy.

PERM_ISO <float>

Isotropic permeability [m²].

PERM_HORIZONTAL <float>

Permeability in x- and y-directions. One must include the VERTICAL_ANISOTROPY_RATIO card to define the permeability in the z-direction [m²].

PERM_X <float>

Permeability in x-direction [m²].

PERM_Y <float>

Permeability in y-direction [m²].

PERM_Z <float>

Permeability in z-direction [m²].

PERM_XY <float>

Off-diagonal permeability tensor component in the xy-direction [m²].

PERM_XZ <float>

Off-diagonal permeability tensor component in the xz-direction [m²].

PERM_YZ <float>

Off-diagonal permeability tensor component in the yz-direction [m²].

PERM_ISO_LOG10 <float>

Log10 of the permeability ([m²]). Applies to all directions.

PERM_X_LOG10 <float>

Log10 of the permeability ([m²]) in x-direction.

PERM_Y_LOG10 <float>

Log10 of the permeability ([m²]) in y-direction.

PERM_Z_LOG10 <float>

Log10 of the permeability ([m²]) in z-direction.

PERM_XY_LOG10 <float>

Log10 of the off-diagonal permeability tensor component in the xy-direction [m²].

PERM_XZ_LOG10 <float>

Log10 of the off-diagonal permeability tensor component in the xz-direction [m²].

PERM_YZ_LOG10 <float>

Log10 of the off-diagonal permeability tensor component in the yz-direction [m²].

PERMEABILITY_SCALING_FACTOR <float>

Specifies a value <float> that scales the entire permeability tensor.

VERTICAL_ANISOTROPY_RATIO <float>

Sets the horizontal permeability (kx and ky) to the value specified by PERM_ISO (in the case of a dataset) or PERM_HORIZONTAL and scales the vertical permeability (kz) by the ratio <float>.

DATASET <string>

Permeability to be read from a dataset in ASCII or HDF5 (preferred) formatted file named by the string. For anisotropic permeability, the keyword ANISOTROPIC must be included in the PERMEABILITY block and the datasets must be named stringX, stringY and stringZ in the PFLOTRAN input file. See example below.

Optional Cards:

CHARACTERISTIC_CURVES <string>

Name of characteristic curves block to be associated with material

LONGITUDINAL_DISPERSIVITY <float>

Longitudinal dispersivity for transport within material [m]

TRANSVERSE_DISPERSIVITY_H <float>

Horizontal transverse dispersivity for transport within material [m]

TRANSVERSE_DISPERSIVITY_V <float>

Vertical transverse dispersivity for transport within material [m]

MATERIAL_TRANSFORM <string>

Name of material transform function to be associated with material.

PERMEABILITY_CRITICAL_POROSITY <float>

Critical porosity (\(\porosity_c\)) in the equation that scales permeability as a function of porosity. See UPDATE_PERMEABILITY in users manual.

PERMEABILITY_POWER <float>

Coefficient \(n\) in the equation that scales permeability as a function of porosity. See UPDATE_PERMEABILITY in users manual.

PERMEABILITY_MIN_SCALE_FACTOR <float>

Minimum value by which permeability may be scaled when permeability is calculated as a function of porosity. See UPDATE_PERMEABILITY in users manual.

POROSITY_COMPRESSIBILITY <float>

Compressibility \(C_{\porosity}\) of the void-space volume fraction [1/Pa]. \(C_{\porosity} \equiv (\alpha_b - \alpha_p)\), where \(\alpha_b\) and \(\alpha_p\) are the bulk volume and pore volume compressibility coefficients defined in Bear (1972) as \(\alpha_b \equiv -\frac{1}{V_b}\frac{\partial V_b}{\partial p}\) and \(\alpha_p \equiv -\frac{1}{V_p}\frac{\partial V_p}{\partial p}\). Note that \(\alpha_b = (1-\porosity) \alpha_s + \porosity \alpha_p\). Typically, \(\alpha_b\) and \(\alpha_p\) are negative numbers, and the resulting \(C_{\porosity}\) is a positive number. If you assume that the solid particles of the porous medium are incompressible (\(\alpha_s \approx 0\)), then \(C_{\porosity} \approx -\frac{(1-\porosity)}{\porosity} \alpha_b\). Use in conjuction with SOIL_COMPRESSIBILITY_FUNCTION POROSITY_EXPONENTIAL.

ROCK_DENSITY <float>

Soil particle density of material [kg/m³]

SATURATION_FUNCTION <string>

Name of saturation function to be associated with material (deprecated for most flow modes).

SECONDARY_CONTINUUM

Specifies parameters for multiple continuum model

SOIL_COMPRESSIBILITY <float>

Compressibility \(C_{s}\) of the soil matrix [1/Pa] (i.e. non-void-space volume fraction). \(C_{s} \equiv (\alpha_s - \alpha_b)\), where \(\alpha_s\) and \(\alpha_b\) are the solid volume and bulk volume compressibility coefficients defined in Bear (1972) as \(\alpha_s \equiv -\frac{1}{V_s}\frac{\partial V_s}{\partial p}\) and \(\alpha_b \equiv -\frac{1}{V_b}\frac{\partial V_b}{\partial p}\). Note that \(\alpha_b = (1-\porosity) \alpha_s + \porosity \alpha_p\). Typically, \(\alpha_s\) is positive while \(\alpha_b\) is negative, and the resulting \(C_{s}\) is a positive number. If you assume that the solid particles of the porous medium are incompressible (\(\alpha_s \approx 0\)), then \(C_{s} \approx -\alpha_b\). Use in conjuction with SOIL_COMPRESSIBILITY_FUNCTION LEIJNSE (DEFAULT).

SOIL_COMPRESSIBILITY_FUNCTION <string>

Name of soil compressibility function [DEFAULT, LEIJNSE, POROSITY_EXPONENTIAL]. Default corresponds to Leijnse.

The Leijnse function (see Bear and Verruijt 1987 or Leijnse 1992) calculates porosity as \(\frac{(1-\porosity)}{(1-\porosity_{ref})} = \exp[-C_s (p-p_{ref})]\), where \(C_s \equiv \frac{-1}{(1-\porosity)} \frac{\partial (1-\porosity)}{\partial p}\) is assumed constant and is specified using the SOIL_COMPRESSIBILITY card. \(p_{ref}\) is specified using the SOIL_REFERENCE_PRESSURE card, and \(\porosity_{ref}\) corresponds to the porosity defined using the POROSITY card.

The POROSITY_EXPONENTIAL function calculates porosity as \(\frac{\porosity}{\porosity_{ref}} = \exp[+C_{\porosity} (p-p_{ref})]\), where \(C_{\porosity} \equiv \frac{1}{\porosity} \frac{\partial \porosity}{\partial p}\) is assumed constant and is specified using the POROSITY_COMPRESSIBILITY card. \(p_{ref}\) is specified using the SOIL_REFERENCE_PRESSURE card, and \(\porosity_{ref}\) corresponds to the porosity defined using the POROSITY card.

SOIL_REFERENCE_PRESSURE [<float> or INITIAL_PRESSURE]

Reference pressure for soil matrix compressibility function [Pa]. INITIAL_PRESSURE specifies that the initial pressure at each grid cell be used instead of the float value.

SPECIFIC_HEAT <float> or HEAT_CAPACITY <float>

Specific heat capacity of material [J/(kg-K)]

TENSORIAL_REL_PERM_EXPONENT <float> <float> <float>

Specifies the three exponents for tensorial relative permeability, one for each principal direction.

THERMAL_CHARACTERISTIC_CURVES <string>

Name of thermal characteristic curve to be associated with material. This replaces THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY_DRY and THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY_WET.

THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY_DRY <float>

Dry thermal conductivity of material [W/(K-m)]

THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY_WET <float>

Wet thermal conductivity of material [W/(K-m)]

THERMAL_EXPANSITIVITY <float>

Thermal expansitivity of material [?]

TORTUOSITY <float>

Tortuosity of material (for diffusive solute transport) [-]

TORTUOSITY DATASET <string>

Tortuosity of material specified through a dataset.

TORTUOSITY_POWER <float>

Exponent in equation for transient tortuosity.

TORTUOSITY_FUNCTION_OF_POROSITY <float>

Specifies that tortuosity be calculated as a function of porosity, tor = por^t, where exponent t [-] is specifed after the card. Use in place of TORTUOSITY. Porosity can be specified through a dataset or as a uniform value.

ANISOTROPIC_TORTUOSITY

Toggles on anisotropic tortuosity (diagonal elements of tensor only)

TORTUOSITY_X

Tortuosity in x-direction [-]

TORTUOSITY_Y

Tortuosity in y-direction [-]

TORTUOSITY_Z

Tortuosity in z-direction [-]

Examples

MATERIAL_PROPERTY Hanford
  ID 1
  CHARACTERISTIC_CURVES cc1
  POROSITY 0.2
  TORTUOSITY 0.5
  PERMEABILITY
    PERM_X 7.387d-9
    PERM_Y 7.387d-9
    PERM_Z 7.387d-10
  /
END

MATERIAL_PROPERTY Hanford
  ID 1
  CHARACTERISTIC_CURVES cc1
  POROSITY 0.2
  TORTUOSITY 0.5
  PERMEABILITY
    PERM_HORIZONTAL 7.387d-9
    VERTICAL_ANISOTROPY_RATIO 0.1d0
  /
END

MATERIAL_PROPERTY soil
  ID 1
  CHARACTERISTIC_CURVES cc1
  POROSITY 0.45
  TORTUOSITY 1.
  ROCK_DENSITY 2650.d0
  THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY_DRY 0.5
  THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY_WET 2.
  HEAT_CAPACITY 830.
  SOIL_COMPRESSIBILITY_FUNCTION DEFAULT ! LEIJNSE
  SOIL_COMPRESSIBILITY 1.d-8
  SOIL_REFERENCE_PRESSURE 101325.d0
  PERMEABILITY
    PERM_ISO 1.d-17
  /
END

Porosity compressibility

MATERIAL_PROPERTY rock1
  ID 1
  CHARACTERISTIC_CURVES default
  POROSITY 0.20
  TORTUOSITY 1.
  ROCK_DENSITY 2650.d0
  THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY_DRY 0.5
  THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY_WET 2.0
  HEAT_CAPACITY 830.
  SOIL_COMPRESSIBILITY_FUNCTION POROSITY_EXPONENTIAL
  POROSITY_COMPRESSIBILITY 1.d-8
  SOIL_REFERENCE_PRESSURE INITIAL_PRESSURE
  PERMEABILITY
    PERM_ISO 1.d-19
  /
END

Tortuosity as a function

MATERIAL_PROPERTY shale
  ID 1
  CHARACTERISTIC_CURVES default
  POROSITY 0.20
  TORTUOSITY_FUNCTION_OF_POROSITY 1.4
  ROCK_DENSITY 2700.d0
  THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY_DRY 1.2
  THERMAL_CONDUCTIVITY_WET 1.2
  HEAT_CAPACITY 830.
  SOIL_COMPRESSIBILITY_FUNCTION DEFAULT ! LEIJNSE
  SOIL_COMPRESSIBILITY 1.6d-8
  SOIL_REFERENCE_PRESSURE 101325.d0
  PERMEABILITY
    PERM_ISO 1.d-19
  /
END

Anisotropic tortuosity

MATERIAL_PROPERTY mat1
  ID 1
  POROSITY 0.3d0
  PERMEABILITY
    PERM_ISO 1.d-12
  /
  ANISOTROPIC_TORTUOSITY
    TORTUOSITY_X 1.1d0
    TORTUOSITY_Y 0.6d0
    TORTUOSITY_Z 2.d0
  END
  CHARACTERISTIC_CURVES default
END

Associating datasets with material properties

MATERIAL_PROPERTY Hanford
  ID 1
  CHARACTERISTIC_CURVES cc1
  POROSITY DATASET poros
  TORTUOSITY 0.5
  PERMEABILITY
    VERTICAL_ANISOTROPY_RATIO 0.1
    DATASET perm
  /
END

with

DATASET perm
  FILENAME hanford_unit.h5
  REALIZATION_DEPENDENT
END

DATASET poros
  FILENAME hanford_unit.h5
  REALIZATION_DEPENDENT
END

Anisotropic permeability dataset within material properties

MATERIAL_PROPERTY Hanford
  ID 1
  CHARACTERISTIC_CURVES cc1
  POROSITY DATASET poros
  TORTUOSITY 0.5
  PERMEABILITY
    ANISOTROPIC
    DATASET perm
  /
END

with

DATASET permX
  FILENAME hanford_unit.h5
  HDF5_DATASET_NAME some_name
END
DATASET permY
  FILENAME hanford_unit.h5
  HDF5_DATASET_NAME a_different_name
END
DATASET permZ
  FILENAME hanford_unit.h5
  HDF5_DATASET_NAME some_name ! can be the same name.
END