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.
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Communicated by D. E. Beskos, March 10, 1993
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Demetracopoulos, A.C., Sehayek, L. Flow through variably saturated soils. Computational Mechanics 12, 361–375 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00364244
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00364244