A new experimental technique to study the flow in a porous layer via rheological tests

This paper reports an experimental investigation of shear-driven flow above and below a porous medium. A new technique based on rheological measurements is proposed and illustrated. Two configurations are investigated: One where there is a shear driven flow above the porous layer. In this case, the velocity profile in the free fluid is directly measured together with the velocity at the interface. The other where a shear flow is induced in the free fluid below a moving porous layer. In this case, the stress transferred through the porous layer is directly measured. Our results show that the stress transferred to the free fluid is essentially the same in both configurations. We have verified this with two sandpapers with different roughness, used to mimic two slender porous layers. This result might be used to validate the different boundary conditions proposed in the literature and imposed at the interface between the two domains.