A Boundary Element-Finite Element Equation Solutions to Flow in Heterogeneous Porous Media

Abstract

A coupled boundary element-finite element procedure, namely, the Green element method (GEM) is applied to the solution of mass transport in heterogeneous media. An equivalent integral equation of the governing differential equation is obtained by invoking the Green's second identity, and in a typical finite element fashion, the resulting equation is solved on each generic element of the problem domain. What is essentially unique about this procedure is the recognition of the particular advantages and particular features possessed by the two techniques and their effective use for the solution of engineering problems. By utilizing this approach, we observe that the range of applicability of the boundary integral methods is enhanced to cope with problems involving media heterogeneity in a straightforward and realistic manner. The method has been used to investigate problems involving various functional forms of heterogeneity, including head variations in a stream-heterogeneous aquifer interaction and in all these cases encouraging results are obtained without much difficulty.