Data for A computational study of fluctuating viscoelastic forces on trapped interfaces in porous media

In immiscible liquid–liquid Newtonian flow through a porous medium, one phase often becomes trapped in corners or narrow regions by capillary forces as blobs (e.g. oil ganglia) deep within the matrix, whilst the second flow exhibits a steady and laminar flow (e.g. of water) that has negligible influence on the trapped liquid–liquid interfaces. However, recent microfluidic experiments have shown the situation radically changes when using a viscoelastic liquid, which is capable of exhibiting pore-scale unsteady flow that can deform such interfaces.

Here, a computational model is developed which allows us to capture the forces that cause this behaviour and provide a framework for future investigations of this system. In this paper, the forces on trapped interfaces are investigated for the first time. Notably, when the viscoelastic flow becomes unsteady the forces on the trapped interfaces not only fluctuate but also become amplified, thus supporting experimental findings showing they can be used to free such interfaces.