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An Adaptive Finite‐Element Model for Calculating Subsurface Transport of Contaminant
Author(s) -
Pepper D. W.,
Stephenson D. E.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1995.tb00305.x
Subject(s) - finite element method , advection , transient (computer programming) , conservation law , computer science , convection–diffusion equation , mathematics , discontinuous galerkin method , weighting , time stepping , shallow water equations , stability (learning theory) , flow (mathematics) , conservation of mass , mathematical optimization , mechanics , mathematical analysis , engineering , geometry , physics , structural engineering , machine learning , acoustics , thermodynamics , operating system
A finite‐element method which incorporates mesh adaptation is used to calculate ground‐water flow and pollutant transport. The formulation is based on the equations for conservation of mass, Darcy's law for an anisotropic medium, and the time‐dependent species transport equation. Modifications have been implemented to the finite‐element formulation to enhance computational speed and reduce storage; Petrov‐Galerkin weighting of the advection terms provides numerical stability. An explicit time marching scheme is used to solve the transient equations. By utilizing unstructured adaptive meshing, species concentration and location of steep fronts are accurately resolved, even though one begins with a coarse mesh. The algorithm currently runs on PC and workstation class computers.