Kevin Pierce

• Linga, Gaute; Pierce, Kevin; Moura, Marcel; Mathiesen, Joachim; Renard, Francois & Borgne, Tanguy Le (2026). Dynamic multiphase flow triggers chaotic mixing in porous media. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). ISSN 0027-8424. 123(34). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2612884123. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, Kevin; Borgne, Tanguy Le; Renard, Francois & Linga, Gaute (2026). How pore-scale disorder controls fluid stretching in porous media. arXiv. doi: 10.48550/ARXIV.2604.02981. Full text in Research Archive
• Brodin, Joachim Falck; Pierce, James Kevin; Reis, Paula Kozlowski Pitombeira; Rikvold, Per Arne; Moura, Marcel & Jankov, Mihailo [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2025). Interface instability of two-phase flow in a three-dimensional porous medium. Physical Review Fluids. 10(6). doi: 10.1103/hm82-167x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We present an experimental study of immiscible, two-phase fluid flow through a three-dimensional porous medium consisting of randomly packed, monodisperse glass spheres. Our experiments combine refractive-index matching and laser-induced fluorescence imaging to resolve the morphology and stability of the moving interface resulting from the injection of one fluid into another. The imposed injection rate sets a balance between gravitational and viscous forces, producing interface morphologies which range from unstable collections of tangled fingers at low rates to stable sheets at high rates. The image data are complemented by time-resolved pressure measurements. We develop a stability criterion for the fluid interface based on the analysis of the 3D images and the pressure data. This criterion involves the Darcy permeability in each of the two phases and the time derivative of the pressure drop across the medium. We observe that the relative permeability encountered by the invading fluid is modified by the imposed flow rate in our experiment, which impacts the two-phase flow dynamics. We show that, in addition to the balance between the relevant forces driving the dynamics, local regions of crystalline order in the beadpack (crystallites) affect the stability of the invading front. This work provides insights into how disorder on multiple length scales in porous media can interact with viscous, capillary, and gravitational forces to determine the stability and dynamics of immiscible fluid interfaces.

• Hassan, Marwan A.; Pierce, James Kevin & Chartrand, Shawn M. (2024). Sediment Storage and Fluvial Sediment Transport Linkages Across an Experimental Flood Sequence. Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR): Earth Surface. ISSN 2169-9003. 129(9). doi: 10.1029/2024JF007772. Full text in Research Archive

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• Reis, Paula Kozlowski Pitombeira; Moura, Marcel; Pierce, Kevin; Måløy, Knut Jørgen & Linga, Gaute (2026). Secondary imbibition in 2D porous media: The role of flow direction in trapping. Full text in Research Archive
• Moura, Marcel; Brodin, Joachim Falck; Reis, Paula Kozlowski Pitombeira; Pierce, Kevin; Jankov, Mihailo & Rikvold, Per Arne [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2026). From Thin Films to Stable Fronts: Tabletop Experimental Approaches to 2D and 3D Porous Media Flows. doi: https:/www.youtube.com/live/bSQ-sHK6FTU?si=W9_rbJ5BkyRPHP0m. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, Kevin; Lamblin, Marc; Borgne, Tanguy Le; Heyman, Joris & Linga, Gaute (2025). Mixing enhancement by dynamic multiphase flow through 3D porous media. Transactions of the American Geophysical Union. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin; Lamblin, Marc; Borgne, Tanguy Le; Heyman, Joris & Linga, Gaute (2025). Enhanced mixing in dynamic multiphase flow through 3D porous media. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin; Borgne, Tanguy Le & Linga, Gaute (2025). Burst-enhanced mixing in multiphase flows through porous media. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin; Borgne, Tanguy Le & Linga, Gaute (2025). Impact of structural disorder on mixing in porous media. Full text in Research Archive
• Brodin, Joachim Falck; Moura, Marcel; Pierce, James Kevin; Reis, Paula Kozlowski Pitombeira; Rikvold, Per Arne & Jankov, Mihailo [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2025). Experimental Investigation of Two-Phase Flow with a Table-Top Optical Scanner: Interface Instability in a Three-Dimensional Porous Medium. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin; Borgne, Tanguy Le & Linga, Gaute (2024). Impact of heterogeneity on solute mixing in porous media flows. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin (2024). Impact of Heterogeneity on Mixing in Porous Media Flows. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin; Linga, Gaute & Borgne, Tanguy Le (2024). Experimental imaging of pore scale stretching and coalescence as drivers for solute mixing in porous media. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin (2024). Impact of the solid structure on solute mixing in porous media flows. Full text in Research Archive
• Brodin, Joachim Falck; Rikvold, Per Arne; Moura, Marcel; Pierce, James Kevin; Toussaint, Renaud & Måløy, Knut Jørgen (2023). Experimental investigation of two phase flow with a table top optical scanner: the competition between viscous and gravitational effects under different boundary conditions. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin; Moura, Marcel & Linga, Gaute (2023). Chaotic mixing in two-dimensional unsteady porous media flow. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin (2023). Progress in stochastic descriptions of fluid-driven sediment transport. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin; Linga, Gaute & Moura, Marcel (2023). Hallmarks of chaotic mixing in two dimensional unsteady porous media flow. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin & Linga, Gaute (2023). Chaos in flatland: mixing in unsteady two dimensional porous media flow. Full text in Research Archive
• Pierce, James Kevin; Linga, Gaute & Moura, Marcel (2023). Impact of the solid structure on solute mixing in porous media flow. Full text in Research Archive

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