FATSIM‐A: An educational tool based on electrical analogy and the code PSPICE to simulate fluid flow and solute transport processes

Abstract

AbstractBased on the network simulation method, the educational software FATSIM‐A has been developed to simulate transient, non‐lineal, conjugate problems of fluid flow and solute transport in porous media. Darcy flow and conservation laws in the form of stream function formulation, as well as boundary conditions, provide the partial differential equations of the mathematical model. The network model, based on the spatial discretization of these equations following a few rules, is simulated in the electric circuit simulation code PSPICE. Time remains as a continuous variable in the model. Interface communication is user friendly and immediate through the window environment created in the visual C# source code. The resulting simulation data (concentration and stream function isolines), including animations, are graphically shown in the environment of FATSIM‐A itself or using MATLAB, due to the suitable routines implemented in the software. The power and reliability of FATSIM‐A have been verified by comparing its solution with standard benchmark problems such as those of Henry and Elder. The program can be used as a low cost laboratory educational tool for teaching groundwater flow with solute transport processes, such as saline intrusion, salt lake, and salt dome. Furthermore, the software can be used as a numerical tool for investigation. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 22:516–528, 2014; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.10.1002/cae.20577