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Boundary element analysis of contaminant transport in fractured porous media
Author(s) -
Leo C. J.,
Booker J. R.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
international journal for numerical and analytical methods in geomechanics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.419
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1096-9853
pISSN - 0363-9061
DOI - 10.1002/nag.1610170704
Subject(s) - laplace transform , boundary element method , porous medium , boundary value problem , mechanics , mathematical analysis , geotechnical engineering , permeability (electromagnetism) , porosity , mathematics , finite element method , geology , engineering , structural engineering , physics , chemistry , biochemistry , membrane
A two‐dimensional boundary integral method to analyse the flow of contaminant in fractured media having a two‐ or three‐dimensional orthogonal fracture network is presented. The method assumes that the fractures provide the paths of least resistance for transport of contaminants while the matrix, because of its low permeability, acts as ‘storage blocks’ into which the contaminant diffuses. Laplace transform is used to eliminate the time variable in the governing equation in order to facilitate the formulation of a boundary integral equation in the Laplace transform space. Conventional boundary element techniques are applied to solve for the contaminant concentrations at specified locations in the spatial domain. The concentration in the time domain is then obtained by using an efficient inversion technique developed by Talbot. The method is able to analyse the behaviour of waste repositories which have diminishing concentration due to the mass transport of the contaminant into the surrounding fractured media.