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  4. Replication of soil analogues at the original scale by 3D printing: Quantitative assessment of accuracy and repeatability of the pore structural heterogeneity
 
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research article

Replication of soil analogues at the original scale by 3D printing: Quantitative assessment of accuracy and repeatability of the pore structural heterogeneity

Patino, Janis E.
•
Miele, Filippo  
•
Perez, Alejandro J.
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August 26, 2024
Advances in water Resources

The present study investigates the quality of four three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies to accurately reproduce the complex pore structure of a real undisturbed soil sample for laboratory experiments of transport in porous media at a 1:1 scale. Four state-of-the-art 3D printing technologies were evaluated (digital light synthesis, PolyJet with gel support material, low-force stereolithography, and PolyJet with water-soluble support material) using a combination of 3D image analysis from microtomopraphy and flow simulations of the pore structure produced with each 3D printing technique. Accuracy, as determined by matching solid and void volumes, permeability, connected porosity, specific surface area, and pore size distribution of the print against the original digital soil structure, was found to be substantially better for digital light synthesis, as compared to the other tested technologies. Repeatability, as determined by the same metrics but compared between identical prints, was found to be comparable across all printing technologies and did not significantly improve for prints at greater magnification (1.5x). x ). Wettability of the samples was improved by plasma treatment of the prints. The thorough analysis herein presented demonstrates that advanced, yet relatively inexpensive 3D printing approaches can be used to generate real-scale high quality analogs of soils/rocks that are much needed for experimental laboratory work. Such a method can open countless opportunities for studying the coupling of pore-structure and hydrodynamics on reactive mass transport in environmental science and engineering, soil science, and other subsurface related fields.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1016/j.advwatres.2024.104795
Web of Science ID

WOS:001301986200001

Author(s)
Patino, Janis E.
•
Miele, Filippo  
•
Perez, Alejandro J.
•
Kanavas, Zoe
•
Dughi, Mackenzie L.
•
Morales, Veronica L.
Date Issued

2024-08-26

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Published in
Advances in water Resources
Volume

192

Article Number

104795

Subjects

3D printing

•

Soil

•

Rock

•

Pore microstructure

•

Permeable

•

Wettability

Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
CHANGE  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

National Science Foundation (NSF)

EAR-1847689;EAR-2345366

Engineering Research Center Program of NSF

EEC-1449501

BARD fund, United States

IS-5694-24

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Available on Infoscience
February 1, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/246345
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