Poroelasticity

This book treats the mechanics of porous materials infiltrated with a fluid (poromechanics), focussing on its linear theory (poroelasticity). Porous materials from inanimate bodies such as sand, soil and rock, living bodies such as plant tissue, animal flesh, or man-made materials can look very different due to their different origins, but as readers will see, the underlying physical principles governing their mechanical behaviors can be the same, making this work relevant not only to engineers but also to scientists across other scientific disciplines. 

Readers will find discussions of physical phenomena including soil consolidation, land subsidence, slope stability, borehole failure, hydraulic fracturing, water wave and seabed interaction, earthquake aftershock, fluid injection induced seismicity and heat induced pore pressure spalling as well as discussions of seismoelectric and seismoelectromagnetic effects. The work also explores the biomechanics of cartilage, bone and blood vessels.

Chapters present theory using an intuitive, phenomenological approach at the bulk continuum level, and a thermodynamics-based variational energy approach at the micromechanical level. The physical mechanisms covered extend from the quasi-static theory of poroelasticity to poroelastodynamics, poroviscoelasticity, porothermoelasticity, and porochemoelasticity. Closed form analytical solutions are derived in details.   

This book provides an excellent introduction to linear poroelasticity and is especially relevant to those involved in civil engineering, petroleum and reservoir engineering, rock mechanics, hydrology, geophysics, and biomechanics.

• Geomechanics and Poroelasticity
• Mechanics of Porous Materials
• Micromechanics and Poroelasticity
• Poroelastodynamics
• Poromechanics and Poroelasticity
• Porothermoelasticity
• Poroviscoelasticity
• Wave Propagation and Poroelasticity

“The volume on Poroelasticity by Professor Alex Cheng is a comprehensive and authoritative study that is bound to become a standard work on the subject. It gives the essential developments and advances in poroelasticity taking into consideration both historical and modern perspectives. It is written in a readable style that will enable both researchers and practitioners to take advantage of the conceptual and mathematical developments and the extensive list of usable solutions to problems in poroelasticity ... .” (A.P.S. Selvadurai, William Scott Professor and James McGill Professor, McGill University, Canada)

“A very comprehensive and well written textbook that addresses the physical concept, mathematical formulation, analytical solutions, and applications of the theory of poroelasticity. This book is a must for students and researchers learning this subject.” (Younane Abousleiman, Larry W. Brummett/ONEOK Chair in Poromechanics, Director of PoroMechanics Institute, University of Oklahoma, USA)

“This is a very impressive book, containing a wealth of information on the development of the theory of poroelasticity, to which Professor Cheng has himself contributed many useful parts ... . The book presents fine presentations of the properties of porous media in several chapters, many examples of problems with their solutions, and introductions to such varied topics as poroelastodynamics, poroviscoelasticity, porothermoelasticity and porochemoelasticity, which may further be developed in future ... . With its more than 800 pages the book will remain a valuable source for many researchers for many years to come ... .” (Arnold Verruijt, Emeritus Professor of Soil Mechanics Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands)

“This prodigious and scholarly book is a comprehensive treatment of linear poroelasticity. It will be useful as an introduction to the subject as well as a resource for practitioners and researchers. It is destined to be a classic in the field.” (John Rudnicki, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, USA)

“Professor Cheng has written the definitive book on the theory and applications of poroelasticity. This comprehensive book will be an invaluable reference for scientists and engineers dealing with the mechanics of fluid-infiltrated porous solids in biomechanics, geophysics, and geomechanics.” (Emmanuel Detournay, Theodore W. Bennett Chair in Mining Engineering and Rock Mechanics, University of Minnesota, USA)

“The author declares at the beginning that the goal of this book is limited, focusing largely on the linear theories, such as classical linear elasticity and porous medium flow (Darcy flow); hence the title has been chosen as poroelasticity, rather than the more general poromechanics one. However this limited goal is thoroughly covered in the 12 chapters of the book. Already the introduction contains an abundance of exampleswhich certainly attract the interest of the reader ... . Given the clarity of the text and the large spectrum of topics covered ... the book is a must for all those who want to approach this rather complicated subject.” (Bernhard Schrefler, Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padua, Italy)

• University of Mississippi, Oxford, USA

  Alexander H.-D. Cheng

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