Multiphase thermo-hydro-mechanical coupled soil drying model with phase-exchange based on mixture coupling theory

Abstract

The drying phenomenon in soils involves complex interactions between thermal, hydrological, and mechanical effects within a multiphase system. While several researches (both mechanics and mixture theory approach) has been applied to study various thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupled processes in porous media, incorporating both multiphase flow and phase change in soil drying remains limited. This work addresses this research gap by deriving new governing equations for a two-phase flow model suitable for soil drying by extending the mixture coupling approach. The derived model is implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics and validated against experimental data, demonstrating good agreement between the model predictions and the ob- served results. A sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the impact of critical parameters on the drying process. The findings reveal that volumetric strain is most sensitive to Young’s modulus, while the saturation of liquid water is most affected by intrinsic permeability. Additionally, preliminary results for a kaolinite clay sample during the drying process are presented, extending the applicability of the derived model to specific soil types. This research provides a comprehensive framework for fully THM coupled modelling of soil drying, which can serve as a basis for future investigations.