Announcement Detail

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

8:30 AM PDT

Join via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89805920868?pwd=UaxOZeVHZAs9BeKkjqRWbNadZYCIZo.1

Energy & Earth Systems TTA Webinar

Phase-field modeling of microstructure evolution of icy porous media

Xiaojing (Ruby) Fu, California Institute of Technology

Abstract:

The microstructure of icy geomaterials—including snow, firn, sea ice, and permafrost—governs key geosystem processes by controlling thermal–hydraulic behavior, mechanical strength, and reflectivity. These porous materials undergo continuous microstructural evolution driven by local gradients in temperature, salinity, curvature, and by external fluid flow. While numerous laboratory studies have quantified the evolution of material properties under varying environmental conditions, computational approaches remain limited.

In this talk, I explore the use of phase-field framework for modeling microstructural evolution in icy porous materials. First, I show how the model framework reproduces laboratory observations of snow sintering and captures the role of liquid water in wet snow metamorphism. I then discuss its extension toward permafrost. Second, I introduce a variational phase-field model that incorporates temperature- and salinity-dependent thermodynamics to simulate interactions between ice and salty water. Model fidelity is validated against published experiments. We then conduct mm-scale simulations of sea ice melting in the low-Reynolds regime, capturing key phenomena such as salt release from brine pockets and stratification, providing a basis for connecting microscale processes to large-scale sea ice melt dynamics.