Comparison of the three main multifluid extensions of the lattice Boltzmann method used for modeling unsaturated soils

Publikationstyp
Journal Article
Date Issued
2026-04-27
Sprache
English
Author(s)
Toffoli, Clara M. 
Geotechnik und Baubetrieb B-5  
Hosseini, Reihaneh  
Grabe, Jürgen  
Geotechnik und Baubetrieb B-5  
TORE-DOI
10.15480/882.17071
TORE-URI
https://hdl.handle.net/11420/62981
Journal
Computers and geotechnics  
Volume
196
Article Number
108192
Citation
Computers and Geotechnics 196: 108192 (2026)
Publisher DOI
10.1016/j.compgeo.2026.108192
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-105036638661
Publisher
Elsevier
The complex behavior of unsaturated soils is closely linked to the distribution of the two fluids, water and air, within their pore space. Pore-scale modeling of the fluid distribution can therefore be beneficial for advancing unsaturated soil mechanics. The Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is a popular choice for such modeling, due to its simplicity and computational efficiency. Several extensions of the single-phase LBM have been proposed to model multifluid systems; however, there is no clear consensus on which formulation is most suitable for simulations of unsaturated soils. The objective of this study is to compare the three multifluid approaches commonly used in the field: multiphase Shan–Chen (MPSC), multi-component Shan–Chen (MCSC), and He–Chen–Zhang (HCZ). All three approaches are implemented within an in-house LBM code and are carefully calibrated to ensure consistent interfacial properties. The methods are then applied to simulate drainage and imbibition in a two-dimensional granular packing. Their performance is evaluated in terms of their ability to reproduce pore-scale fluid distributions as well as their computational efficiency. A simple physical model is additionally used to provide qualitative verification of the simulated fluid configurations. The results indicate that, for the capillarity-dominated, quasi-static simulations examined in this study, the MPSC approach provides the most favorable balance between accuracy and computational efficiency.
Subjects
He–Chen–Zhang
LBM
Multi-component
Multiphase
Shan–Chen
SWRC
Unsaturated soil
DDC Class
624: Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering
519: Applied Mathematics, Probabilities
Lizenz
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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