On the Reliability of Numerical Solutions of Brine Transport in Groundwater: Analysis of Infiltration from a Salt Lake

The density dependent flow and transport problem in groundwater is solved numerically by means of a mixed finite element scheme for the flow equation and a mixed finite element-finite volume time-splitting based technique for the transport equation. The proposed approach, spatially second order accurate, is used to address the issue of grid convergence by solving on successively refined grids the salt lake problem, a physically unstable downward convection with formation of fingers. Numerical results indicate that achievement of grid convergence is problematic due to ill-conditioning arising from the strong nonlinearities of the mathematical model.     

Infiltration of Salt Solute in Homogeneous and Saturated Porous Media – An Analytical Solution Evaluated by Numerical Simulations

In many cases various land disposal activities (e.g. infiltration, injection wells) constitute an important potential source of groundwater contamination. Using a 2D physical model, the behaviour of the infiltration of a salt solute, locally injected in a homogeneous and saturated porous medium, has been analysed. Under various experimental conditions (density effects, injection flow rate) the salt solute penetrates the porous media and leads to a steady-state regime inside the mixing zone. By using experimental observations, the basic equations describing the flow and transport phenomena can be simplified and an analytical solution obtained. Its validity is subject to numerical verification. The numerical model, based on the development of the mass balance equation expressed by its conservative form, uses a combination of the mixed hybrid finite element (MHFE) and discontinuous finite element (DFE) methods. The efficiency of this numerical model was previously verified on standard benchmarks, for example Elder's problem and Henry's problem. In the first step, the qualitative good agreement between the experimental and numerical results enabled us to use the numerical model in order to verify some hypotheses resulting from visual observations. Thus, the numerical results reveal the existence of a steady-state regime inside the mixing zones. Nevertheless, both its vertical and longitudinal extensions are less than those observed in the physical model. In the second step, the numerical results enable to establish the validity domain as well as the accuracy of the proposed analytical solution.     

A moving finite element method for the population balance equation

A moving finite element algorithm has been compared against the upwind-differencing and Smolarkiewicz methods for the population balance equation of multicomponent particle growth processes. Analytical solutions and an error function have been used to test the numerical methods. The moving finite elements technique is much more accurate than other methods for a wide range of parameters. Since this method uses moving grids, it is able to model very narrow particle size distributions. It is also shown that the method can be extended to solve condensational growth problems which include particle curvature and non-continuum mass transfer effects.     

A mixed finite element/finite volume approach for solving biodegradation transport in groundwater

A numerical model for the simulation of flow and transport of organic compounds undergoing bacterial oxygen- and nitrate-based respiration is presented. General assumptions regarding microbial population, bacteria metabolism and effects of oxygen, nitrogen and nutrient concentration on organic substrate rate of consumption are briefly described. The numerical solution techniques for solving both the flow and the transport are presented. The saturated flow equation is discretized using a high-order mixed finite element scheme, which provides a highly accurate estimation of the velocity field. The transport equation for a sorbing porous medium is approximated using a finite volume scheme enclosing an upwind TVD shock-capturing technique for capturing concentration-unsteady steep fronts. The performance and capabilities of the present approach in a bio-remediation context are assessed by considering a set of test problems. The reliability of the numerical results concerning solution accuracy and the computational efficiency in terms of cost and memory requirements are also estimated. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite volume adaptive solutions using SIMPLE as smoother

This paper describes a new multilevel procedure that can solve the discrete Navier–Stokes system arising from finite volume discretizations on composite grids, which may consist of more than one level. SIMPLE is used and tested as the smoother, but the multilevel procedure is such that it does not exclude the use of other smoothers. Local refinement is guided by a criterion based on an estimate of the truncation error. The numerical experiments presented test not only the behaviour of the multilevel algebraic solver, but also the efficiency of local refinement based on this particular criterion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An unstructured finite‐volume method for coupled models of suspended sediment and bed load transport in shallow‐water flows

The aim of this work is to develop a well‐balanced finite‐volume method for the accurate numerical solution of the equations governing suspended sediment and bed load transport in two‐dimensional shallow‐water flows. The modelling system consists of three coupled model components: (i) the shallow‐water equations for the hydrodynamical model; (ii) a transport equation for the dispersion of suspended sediments; and (iii) an Exner equation for the morphodynamics. These coupled models form a hyperbolic system of conservation laws with source terms. The proposed finite‐volume method consists of a predictor stage for the discretization of gradient terms and a corrector stage for the treatment of source terms. The gradient fluxes are discretized using a modified Roe's scheme using the sign of the Jacobian matrix in the coupled system. A well‐balanced discretization is used for the treatment of source terms. In this paper, we also employ an adaptive procedure in the finite‐volume method by monitoring the concentration of suspended sediments in the computational domain during its transport process. The method uses unstructured meshes and incorporates upwinded numerical fluxes and slope limiters to provide sharp resolution of steep sediment concentrations and bed load gradients that may form in the approximate solutions. Details are given on the implementation of the method, and numerical results are presented for two idealized test cases, which demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the method and its applicability in predicting dam‐break flows over erodible sediment beds. The method is also applied to a sediment transport problem in the Nador lagoon.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling Variable Density Flow and Solute Transport in Porous Medium: 2. Re‐Evaluation of the Salt Dome Flow Problem

Case 5, Level 1 of the international HYDROCOIN groundwater flow modeling project is an example of idealized flow over a salt dome. The groundwater flow is strongly coupled to solute transport since density variations in this example are large (20%).Several independent teams simulated this problem using different models. Results obtained by different codes can be contradictory. We develop a new numerical model based on the mixed hybrid finite elements approximation for flow, which provides a good approximation of the velocity, and the discontinuous finite elements approximation to solve the advection equation, which gives a good approximation of concentration even when the dispersion tensor is very small. We use the new numerical model to simulate the salt dome flow problem.In this paper we study the effect of molecular diffusion and we compare linear and nonlinear dispersion equations. We show the importance of the discretization of the boundary condition on the extent of recirculation and the final salt distribution. We study also the salt dome flow problem with a more realistic dispersion (very small dispersion tensor). Our results are different to prior works with regard to the magnitude of recirculation and the final concentration distribution. In all cases, we obtain recirculation in the lower part of the domain, even for only dispersive fluxes at the boundary. When the dispersion tensor becomes very small, the magnitude of recirculation is small. Swept forward displacement could be reproduced by using finite difference method to compute the dispersive fluxes instead of mixed hybrid finite elements.     

Finite element modified method of characteristics for the Navier–Stokes equations

An algorithm based on the finite element modified method of characteristics (FEMMC) is presented to solve convection–diffusion, Burgers and unsteady incompressible Navier–Stokes equations for laminar flow. Solutions for these progressively more involved problems are presented so as to give numerical evidence for the robustness, good error characteristics and accuracy of our method. To solve the Navier–Stokes equations, an approach that can be conceived as a fractional step method is used. The innovative first stage of our method is a backward search and interpolation at the foot of the characteristics, which we identify as the convective step. In this particular work, this step is followed by a conjugate gradient solution of the remaining Stokes problem. Numerical results are presented for:

• a Convection–diffusion equation. Gaussian hill in a uniform rotating field.
• b Burgers equations with viscosity.
• c Navier–Stokes solution of lid‐driven cavity flow at relatively high Reynolds numbers.
• d Navier–Stokes solution of flow around a circular cylinder at Re=100.

Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diffusion–Convection in a Porous Medium with Impervious Inclusions at Low Flow Rates

The aim of this paper is to develop a macroscopic model for the transport of a passive solute, by diffusion and convection, in a heterogeneous medium consisting of impervious solids periodically distributed in a porous matrix. In the porous part, the flow is described by Darcy's law. Attempt is made to derive the macroscopic equation governing the average concentration field in the equivalent macroscopic medium and the macroscopic transport parameters. The analysis is conducted in the case when convection and diffusion are of the same order of magnitude at the macroscopic level, that is, when the Péclet number is of order 1. The proposed macroscopic model is obtained using the homogenization method for periodic structures with a double scale asymptotic expansion, in which the small parameter is the ratio between the two characteristic lengths l (the period scale of the impervious bodies distribution) and L (the scale of the macroscopic sample). The macroscopic parameters, which characterize the multiporous medium, depend solely on the transport parameters in the porous matrix and on the geometry of the impervious inclusions without any phenomenological assumption. Numerical computations are performed using a finite element method for several geometries of the solid inclusions, in two- and three-dimensional cases.     

Numerical simulation of high‐Reynolds number flow around circular cylinders by a three‐step FEM–BEM model

An innovative computational model, developed to simulate high‐Reynolds number flow past circular cylinders in two‐dimensional incompressible viscous flows in external flow fields is described in this paper. The model, based on transient Navier–Stokes equations, can solve the infinite boundary value problems by extracting the boundary effects on a specified finite computational domain, using the projection method. The pressure is assumed to be zero at infinite boundary and the external flow field is simulated using a direct boundary element method (BEM) by solving a pressure Poisson equation. A three‐step finite element method (FEM) is used to solve the momentum equations of the flow. The present model is applied to simulate high‐Reynolds number flow past a single circular cylinder and flow past two cylinders in which one acts as a control cylinder. The simulation results are compared with experimental data and other numerical models and are found to be feasible and satisfactory. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A two‐dimensional finite volume morphodynamic model on unstructured triangular grids

We discuss the application of a finite volume method to morphodynamic models on unstructured triangular meshes. The model is based on coupling the shallow water equations for the hydrodynamics with a sediment transport equation for the morphodynamics. The finite volume method is formulated for the quasi‐steady approach and the coupled approach. In the first approach, the steady hydrodynamic state is calculated first and the corresponding water velocity is used in the sediment transport equation to be solved subsequently. The second approach solves the coupled hydrodynamics and sediment transport system within the same time step. The gradient fluxes are discretized using a modified Roe's scheme incorporating the sign of the Jacobian matrix in the morphodynamic system. A well‐balanced discretization is used for the treatment of source terms. We also describe an adaptive procedure in the finite volume method by monitoring the bed–load in the computational domain during its transport process. The method uses unstructured meshes, incorporates upwinded numerical fluxes and slope limiters to provide sharp resolution of steep bed gradients that may form in the approximate solution. Numerical results are shown for a test problem in the evolution of an initially hump‐shaped bed in a squared channel. For the considered morphodynamical regimes, the obtained results point out that the coupled approach performs better than the quasi‐steady approach only when the bed–load rapidly interacts with the hydrodynamics. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effective numerical methods for elasto-plastic contact problems with friction

Several effective numerical methods for solving the elasto-plastic contact problems with friction are presented. First, a direct substitution method is employed to impose the contact constraint conditions on condensed finite element equations, thus resulting in a reduction by half in the dimension of final governing equations. Second, an algorithm composed of contact condition probes and elasto-plastic iterations is utilized to solve the governing equation, which distinguishes two kinds of nonlinearities, and makes the solution unique. In addition, Positive-Negative Sequence Modification Method is used to condense the finite element equations of each substructure and an analytical integration is introduced to determine the elasto-plastic status after each time step or each iteration, hence the computational efficiency is enhanced to a great extent. Finally, several test and practical examples are presented showing the validity and versatility of these methods and algorithms. The Project Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

非正交网格控制容积法分析复杂形状池内的流动

介绍一种基于非正交网格控制容积法的数学模型，及其在圆形沉沙池流动研究中的应用．该模型求解轴对称流动的连续方程及时均Ｎ－Ｓ方程，并采用标准ｋ－ε紊流模型，模拟圆形池内的流动．由于采用非正交网格，此计算模型可精确模拟几何形状较复杂的沉沙池内的流动，利用上述模型对某实际沉沙池进行了流场计算，计算所得流场与模型试验实测值符合良好．     

Hybrid finite element/volume method for 3D incompressible flows with heat transfer

An implicit hybrid finite element (FE)/volume solver has been extended to incompressible flows coupled with the energy equation. The solver is based on the segregated pressure correction or projection method on staggered unstructured hybrid meshes. An intermediate velocity field is first obtained by solving the momentum equations with the matrix-free implicit cell-centred finite volume (FV) method. The pressure Poisson equation is solved by the node-based Galerkin FE method for an auxiliary variable. The auxiliary variable is used to update the velocity field and the pressure field. The pressure field is carefully updated by taking into account the velocity divergence field. Our current staggered-mesh scheme is distinct from other conventional ones in that we store the velocity components at cell centres and the auxiliary variable at vertices. The Generalized Minimal Residual (GMRES) matrix-free strategy is adapted to solve the governing equations in both FE and FV methods. The presented 2D and 3D numerical examples show the robustness and accuracy of the numerical method.     

A mathematical model and a numerical model for hyperbolic mass transport in compressible flows

A number of contributions have been made during the last decades to model pure-diffusive transport problems by using the so-called hyperbolic diffusion equations. These equations are used for both mass and heat transport. The hyperbolic diffusion equations are obtained by substituting the classic constitutive equation (Fick’s and Fourier’s law, respectively), by a more general differential equation, due to Cattaneo (C R Acad Sci Ser I Math 247:431–433, 1958). In some applications the use of a parabolic model for diffusive processes is assumed to be accurate enough in spite of predicting an infinite speed of propagation (Cattaneo, C R Acad Sci Ser I Math 247:431–433, 1958). However, the use of a wave-like equation that predicts a finite velocity of propagation is necessary in many other calculations. The studies of heat or mass transport with finite velocity of propagation have been traditionally limited to pure-diffusive situations. However, the authors have recently proposed a generalization of Cattaneo’s law that can also be used in convective-diffusive problems (Gómez, Technical Report (in Spanish), University of A Coruña, 2003; Gómez et al., in An alternative formulation for the advective-diffusive transport problem. 7th Congress on computational methods in engineering. Lisbon, Portugal, 2004a; Gómez et al., in On the intrinsic instability of the advection–diffusion equation. Proc. of the 4th European congress on computational methods in applied sciences and engineering (CDROM). Jyväskylä, Finland, 2004b) (see also Christov and Jordan, Phys Rev Lett 94:4301–4304, 2005). This constitutive equation has been applied to engineering problems in the context of mass transport within an incompressible fluid (Gómez et al., Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng, doi: 10.1016/j.cma.2006.09.016, 2006). In this paper we extend the model to compressible flow problems. A discontinuous Galerkin method is also proposed to numerically solve the equations. Finally, we present some examples to test out the performance of the numerical and the mathematical model.     

A semi-coarsening strategy for unstructured multigrid based on agglomeration

Extending multigrid concepts to the calculation of complex compressible flow is usually not straightforward. This is especially true when non-embedded grid hierarchies or volume agglomeration strategies are used to construct a gradation of unstructured grids. In this work, a multigrid method for solving second-order PDE's on stretched unstructured triangulations is studied. The finite volume agglomeration multigrid technique originally developed for solving the Euler equations is used (M.-H. Lallemand and A. Dervieux, in Multigrid Methods, Theory, Applications and Supercomputing, Marcel Dekker, 337–363 (1988)). First, a directional semi-coarsening strategy based on Poisson's equation is proposed. The second-order derivatives are approximated on each level by introducing a correction factor adapted to the semi-coarsening strategy. Then, this method is applied to solve the Poisson equation. It is extended to the 2D Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations with appropriate boundary treatment for low-Reynolds number turbulent flows. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Plastic limit analysis of incompatible finite element method

This paper describes an incompatible finite element model satisfying the consistencycondition of energy to solve the numerical precision problem of finite element solution inperfectly plastic analysis.In this paper the reason and criterion of the application of themodel to plastic limit analysis are discussed,and an algorithm of computing plastic limitload is given.     

New numerical schemes based on a criterion for constructing essentially stable and accurate numerical schemes for convection-dominated equations

In order to obtain stable and accurate numerical solutions for the convection-dominated steady transport equations, we propose a criterion for constructing numerical schemes for the convection term that the roots of the characteristic equation of the resulting difference equation have poles. By imposing this criterion on the difference coefficients of the convection term, we construct two numerical schemes for the convection-dominated equations. One is based on polynomial differencing and the other on locally exact differencing. The former scheme coincides with the QUICK scheme when the mesh Reynolds number (Rm) is $\mathop \[{\textstyle{{\rm 8} \over {\rm 3}}}\] $, which is the critical value for its stability, while it approaches the second-order upwind scheme as Rm goes to infinity. Hence the former scheme interpolates a stable scheme between the QUICK scheme at Rm = $\mathop \[{\textstyle{{\rm 8} \over {\rm 3}}}\] $ and the second-order upwind scheme at Rm = ∞. Numerical solutions with the present new schemes for the one-dimensional, linear, steady convection-diffusion equations showed good results.