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Can Unsaturated Flow During Gravity Drainage Be Represented by Boulton's Formulation?
Author(s) -
ElKadi Aly I.,
Brutsaert Wilfried
Publication year - 1986
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/wr022i010p01361
Subject(s) - richards equation , aquifer , flow (mathematics) , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , mathematical optimization , geology , geometry , groundwater , water content
Despite recent advances in numerical methodology, the solution of the complete equations describing saturated‐unsaturated flow in an unconfined aquifer remains a difficult problem. Therefore in practical engineering calculations the formulation must be simplified. It is shown here that Boulton's equation (involving a time‐dependent drainable porosity) and also the linearized Boussinesq equation can provide results that are in agreement with certain aspects of the more realistic Richards solution, provided that an estimation of their parameters is possible. However, the performance of Boulton's formulation is only marginally superior to that based on the Boussinesq equation.