Interfacial wave of the gas-liquid two-phase flow in unsaturated reservoir pores

Unsaturated reservoir pores exist widely in porous self-lubricating materials for the continuous consumption of lubricant. The complex gas-liquid two-phase flow behavior in the pores significantly affects the self-lubricating performance. In this paper, the two-phase flow model in unsaturated pores was established based on the Couple Level Set and Volume of Fluid method. Two kinds of porous materials with significantly different wettability, stainless steel and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), were concerned. The two-phase flow behaviors were investigated to reveal the flow mechanism in the unsaturated pores. The different flow behaviors caused by the wettability of materials were quantitative characterization. Results show that, the gas rises with a convex interface in the stainless steel pore, and the bubble is generated after the contact line is pinned on the edge of the pore at 35 ms. While in the PTFE pore, the gas rises with a concave interface. And the gas profile changes from concave to convex after the contact line is pinned at 32 ms. In the two pores, the gas-liquid interface fluctuates periodically. In the hydrophilic stainless steel pore, the fluctuation amplitude decreases and finally tends to be stable with the increase of time. In the hydrophobic PTFE pore, the interface has constant fluctuation amplitude for the attraction between gas and the hole wall. The fluctuation of the gas-liquid interface has an important influence on the flow state of the lubricant film. The results help to clarify the two-phase flow mechanism within unsaturated pores, and provide guidance for the self-lubrication design of the porous materials.