Computational Mechanics

, Volume 12, Issue 6, pp 361–375 | Cite as

Flow through variably saturated soils

  • A. C. Demetracopoulos
  • Lily Sehayek
Article
  • 88 Downloads

Abstract

The equation of flow through variably saturated porous media is discretized via the Galerkin finite element formulation. The discretization is coupled with an approach for mesh generation and optimization of the node numbering scheme. Sensitivity analysis showed that the solution behavior is controlled by dimensionless quantities equivalent to Peclet and Courant numbers. For the form of equation investigated, no universal limiting values of Pe and Cr can be established because the values of these parameters depend on both the constitutive relations used and on initial conditions. For more efficient solution of the problem, a deformation scheme of the computational mesh is proposed, which accounts for the limiting Peclet and Courant numbers and for the shape of the deformed elements. Comparisons with other solutions showed that the numerical scheme performs very well.

Keywords

Sensitivity Analysis Porous Medium Information Theory Numerical Scheme Constitutive Relation 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1993

Authors and Affiliations

  • A. C. Demetracopoulos
    • 1
  • Lily Sehayek
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Civil EngineeringUniversity of PatrasPatrasGreece
  2. 2.B.C.M. One Plymouth MeetingPlymouth MeetingUSA

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