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Drawdown and capture zone topology for nonvertical wells
Author(s) -
Steward David R.,
Jin Wei
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2002wr001709
Subject(s) - perpendicular , scaling , horizontal plane , aquifer , geology , drawdown (hydrology) , dimensionless quantity , geometry , flow (mathematics) , inclined plane , topology (electrical circuits) , mechanics , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , groundwater , physics , quantum mechanics , combinatorics
An analytic framework is developed to model the three‐dimensional steady flow generated by wells placed at general nonvertical orientations within a horizontal aquifer. This framework uses closed‐form solutions for a distribution of point sinks and point doublets along the centerline of the well and semi‐infinite panel elements, each with piecewise linearly varying strengths. This extends previously published implementations and enables a boundary condition of uniform head along the cylindrical face of the well to be accurately matched. The resulting model is used to examine the drawdown and capture zone topology for wells spanning orientations ranging from vertical to horizontal. Scaling relationships are developed for wells perpendicular to flow that are invariant with respect to drawdown and to the strength of elements. The capture zone geometry for such wells is variant with respect to a dimensionless pumping rate, going through transition from two‐dimensional flow in a plane perpendicular to the well to two‐dimensional flow in a horizontal plane.