Darcy flow behavior in porous media is of significant importance in engineering problems such as energy extraction and groundwater transport, with its macroscopic permeability characteristics largely controlled by the geometry of the pore throat structure. To quantitatively analyze the influence of regular pore throat structures on Darcy flow behavior and equivalent permeability, this study employs a microfluidic experimental method, selecting two types of chips with identical porosities but different pore throat geometries for comparative experiments. The permeability performance of these chips under Darcy flow conditions was then compared. By measuring the relationship between the pressure gradient and volumetric flow rate under steady-state conditions, the equivalent permeability of the two chips was calculated based on Darcy's law, thereby studying the impact of pore throat geometry on flow characteristics. The experimental results show that the permeabilities of the two chips are 2.083×10⁻⁸ m² and 4.16×10⁻⁸ m², respectively. Despite having similar porosities, the triangular pore throat chip exhibited a significantly higher permeability due to differences in geometric structure. During the experiment, bubble retention and local preferential flow phenomena were observed, but these did not disrupt the linear relationship of Darcy flow and only had a slight effect on the quantitative results of the equivalent permeability. This study reveals the influence of regular pore throat structures on Darcy flow characteristics in porous media through microfluidic experiments, providing experimental evidence for understanding and predicting macroscopic permeability based on pore-scale structures.

Xinyi Zhang. Darcy Flow Characteristics in Regular Pore-Throat Structures: A Microfluidic Experimental Study. Academic Journal of Materials & Chemistry (2026), Vol. 7, Issue 1: 73-79. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJMC.2026.070111.

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