Polynomial approximate solutions to the Boussinesq equation

We provide closed-form approximate solutions to models of horizontal infiltration described by the Boussinesq equation in a semi-infinite aquifer that is initially dry. The approximations preserve such important qualitative properties as scaling and wetting fronts. They are applicable to four types of boundary conditions, two on head and two on flux, enumerated in the paper. All the considered problems admit self-similar variables that allow reduction to boundary value problems for a nonlinear ordinary differential equation. This work extends recent results by Lockington et al. [Lockington DA, Parlange J-Y, Parlange MB, Selker J. Similarity solution of the Boussinesq equation. Adv Water Resour 2000;23(7):725–9] and Telyakovskiy et al. [Telyakovskiy AS, Braga GA, Furtado F. Approximate similarity solutions to the Boussinesq equation. Adv Water Resour 2002;25(2):191–4], with new approximations developed for two of the four cases and a new extension of a previously existing method for a third case. Numerical results extending the work of Shampine [Shampine LF. Some singular concentration dependent diffusion problems. ZAMM 1973;53:421–2] provide a basis for assessing the accuracy of the new methods.     

A general analytical solution for flow to a single horizontal well by Fourier and Laplace transforms

The objective of this paper is to present an analytical solution for describing the head distribution in an unconfined aquifer with a single pumping horizontal well parallel to a fully penetrating stream. The Laplace-domain solution is developed by applying Fourier sine, Fourier and Laplace transforms to the governing equation as well as the associated initial and boundary conditions. The time-domain solution is obtained after taking the inverse Laplace transform along with the Bromwich integral method and inverse Fourier and Fourier sine transforms. The upper boundary condition of the aquifer is represented by the free surface equation in which the second-order slope terms are neglected. Based on the solution and Darcy’s law, the equation representing the stream depletion rate is then derived. The solution can simulate head distributions in an aquifer infinitely extending in horizontal direction if the well is located far away from the stream. In addition, the solution can also simulate head distributions in confined aquifers if specific yield is set zero. It is shown that the solution can be applied practically to evaluate flow to a horizontal well.     

Upscaling of Forchheimer flows

In this work we propose upscaling method for nonlinear Forchheimer flow in heterogeneous porous media. The generalized Forchheimer law is considered for incompressible and slightly-compressible single-phase flows. We use recently developed analytical results (Aulisa et al., 2009) [1] and formulate the resulting system in terms of a degenerate nonlinear flow equation for the pressure with the nonlinearity depending on the pressure gradient. The coarse scale parameters for the steady state problem are determined so that the volumetric average of velocity of the flow in the domain on fine scale and on coarse scale are close. A flow-based coarsening approach is used, where the equivalent permeability tensor is first evaluated following streamline methods for linear cases, and modified in order to take into account the nonlinear effects. Compared to previous works (Garibotti and Peszynska, 2009) [2], (Durlofsky and Karimi-Fard) [3], this approach can be combined with rigorous mathematical upscaling theory for monotone operators, (Efendiev et al., 2004) [4], using our recent theoretical results (Aulisa et al., 2009) [1]. The developed upscaling algorithm for nonlinear steady state problems is effectively used for variety of heterogeneities in the domain of computation. Direct numerical computations for average velocity and productivity index justify the usage of the coarse scale parameters obtained for the special steady state case in the fully transient problem. For nonlinear case analytical upscaling formulas in stratified domain are obtained. Numerical results were compared to these analytical formulas and proved to be highly accurate.     

THEORETICAL APPROACH TO THE SOLUTION OF THE INFILTRATION PROBLEM

ABSTRACT

The one-dimensional transient downward entry of water in unsaturated soils is investigated theoretically. The mathematical equation describing the infiltration process is derived by combining Darcy's dynamic equation of motion with the continuity and thermodynamic state equations adjusted for the unsaturated flow conditions. The resulting equation together with the corresponding initial and boundary conditions constitues a mathematical initial boundary value problem requiring the solution of a nonlinear partial differential equation of the parabolic type. The volumetric water content is taken as the dependent variable and the time and the position along the vertical direction are taken as the independent variables. The governing equation is of such nature that a solution exists for t > 0 and is uniquely determined if two relationships are defined, together with the specified state of the system, at the initial time t = 0 and at the two boundaries. The two required relations are those of pressure versus permeability and pressure versus volumetric water content.

Since the partial differential equation has strong non-linear terms, a discrete solution is obtained by approximating the derivatives with finite-differences at discrete mesh points in the solution domain and integrated for the corresponding initial and boundary conditions. The use of an implicit difference scheme is employed in order to generate a system of simultaneous non-linear equations that has to be solved for each time increment. For n mesh points the two boundary conditions provide two equations and the repetition of the recurrence formula provides n—2 equations, the total being n equations for each time increment. The solution of the system is obtained by matrix inversion and particularly with a back-substitution technique. The FORTRAN statements used for obtaining the solution with an electronic digital computer (IBM 704) are presented together with the input data.

Analysis of the errors involved in the numerical solution is made and the stability and convergence of the solution of the approximate difference equation to that of the differential equation is investigated. The method applied is that of making a Fourier series expansion of a whole line of errors and then following the progress of the general term of the series expansion and also the behavior of each constituent harmonic. The errors (forming a continuous function of points in an abstract Banach space) are represented by vectors with the Fourier coefficients constituting a second Banach space. The amplification factor of the difference equation is shown to be always less than unity which guarantees the stability of the employed implicit recurrence scheme.

Experiments conducted on a vertical column packed uniformly with very fine sand, show a satisfactory agreement between the theoretically and experimentally obtained values. Many experimental results are shown in an attempt to explain the infiltration phenomenon with emphasis on the shape and movement of the wet front, and the effects of the degree of compaction, initial water content and deaired water on the infiltration rate.     

Fractional conservation of mass

The traditional conservation of mass equation is derived using a first-order Taylor series to represent flux change in a control volume, which is valid strictly for cases of linear changes in flux through the control volume. We show that using higher-order Taylor series approximations for the mass flux results in mass conservation equations that are intractable. We then show that a fractional Taylor series has the advantage of being able to exactly represent non-linear flux in a control volume with only two terms, analogous to using a first-order traditional Taylor series. We replace the integer-order Taylor series approximation for flux with the fractional-order Taylor series approximation, and remove the restriction that the flux has to be linear, or piece-wise linear, and remove the restriction that the control volume must be infinitesimal. As long as the flux can be approximated by a power-law function, the fractional-order conservation of mass equation will be exact when the fractional order of differentiation matches the flux power-law. There are two important distinctions between the traditional mass conservation, and its fractional equivalent. The first is that the divergence term in the fractional mass conservation equation is the fractional divergence, and the second is the appearance of a scaling term in the fractional conservation of mass equation that may eliminate scale effects in parameters (e.g., hydraulic conductivity) that should be scale-invariant.     

Stochastic perturbation analysis of groundwater flow. Spatially variable soils,semi-infinite domains and large fluctuations

As is well known, a complete stochastic solution of the stochastic differential equation governing saturated groundwater flow leads to an infinite hierarchy of equations in terms of higher-order moments. Perturbation techniques are commonly used to close this hierarchy, using power-series expansions. These methods are applied by truncating the series after a finite number of terms, and products of random gradients of conductivity and head potential are neglected. Uncertainty regarding the number or terms required to yield a sufficiently accurate result is a significant drawback with the application of power series-based perturbation methods for such problems. Low-order series truncation may be incapable of representing fundamental characteristics of flow and can lead to physically unreasonable and inaccurate solutions of the stochastic flow equation. To support this argument, one-dimensional, steady-state, saturated groundwater flow is examined, for the case of a spatially distributed hydraulic conductivity field. An ordinary power-series perturbation method is used to approximate the mean head, using second-order statistics to characterize the conductivity field. Then an interactive perturbation approach is introduced, which yields improved results compared to low-order, power-series perturbation methods for situations where strong interactions exist between terms in such approximations. The interactive perturbation concept is further developed using Feynman-type diagrams and graph theory, which reduce the original stochastic flow problem to a closed set of equations for the mean and the covariance functions. Both theoretical and practical advantages of diagrammatic solutions are discussed; these include the study of bounded domains and large fluctuations.     

A note on the statistics of ordered peaks in stationary stochastic processes

Numerical simulation experiments have been carried out to evaluate the relative performance of three approximate formulations owing to Amini and Trifunac,[1] Gupta and Trifunac[2] and Basu et al.[3] for probability distributions of ordered peaks in stationary stochastic processes. The first two formulations are based on the assumption that the unordered peaks are statistically independent; whereas the formulation of Basu et al.[3] considers the dependence via Markov transition probability. In the formulation of Gupta and Trifunac,[2] the probability distribution of nth order peak is inherently conditioned by the fact that at most (n−1) peaks can occur with higher amplitudes and, thus, the ordered peaks are necessarily dependent. In this paper, ensembles of stationary time-histories are generated for three PSDFs representing a narrow-band, a broad-band and a band-limited white noise type of processes. Comparison of the results for the expected value and standard deviation for various orders of peaks, obtained by averaging over these ensembles, with the corresponding results obtained from the above mentioned three approximations, defined in terms of the moments of the PSDFs, has shown that the formulation of Gupta and Trifunac[2] describes the data well.     

Numerical approximation of head and flux covariances in three dimensions using mixed finite elements

A numerical method is developed for accurately approximating head and flux covariances and cross-covariances in finite two- and three-dimensional domains using the mixed finite element method. The method is useful for determining head and flux covariances for non-stationary flow fields, for example those induced by injection or extraction wells, impermeable subsurface barriers, or non-stationary hydraulic conductivity fields. Because the numerical approximations to the flux covariances are obtained directly from the solution to the coupled problem rather than having to differentiate head covariances, the approximations are in general more accurate than those obtained from conventional finite difference or finite element methods. Results for uniform flow example problems are consistent with results from previously published finite domain analyses and demonstrate that head variances and covariances are quite sensitive to boundary conditions and the size of the bounded domain. Flux variances and covariances are less sensitive to boundary conditions and domain size. Results comparing approximations from lower-order Raviart–Thomas–Nedelec and higher order Brezzi–Douglas–Marini[9] finite element spaces indicate that higher order element space improve the estimate of the flux covariances, but do not significantly affect the estimate of the head covariances.     

Wellbore flow‐rate solution for a constant‐head test in two‐zone finite confined aquifers

The solution describing the wellbore flow rate in a constant‐head test integrated with an optimization approach is commonly used to analyze observed wellbore flow‐rate data for estimating the hydrogeological parameters of low‐permeability aquifers. To our knowledge, the wellbore flow‐rate solution for the constant‐head test in a two‐zone finite‐extent confined aquifer has never been reported so far in the literature. This article is first to develop a mathematical model for describing the head distribution in the two‐zone aquifer. The Laplace domain solutions for the head distributions and wellbore flow rate in a two‐zone finite confined aquifer are derived using the Laplace transform, and their corresponding time domain solutions are then obtained using the Bromwich integral method and residue theorem. These new solutions are expressed in terms of an infinite series with Bessel functions and not straightforward to calculate numerically. A large‐time solution for the wellbore flow rate is therefore developed by employing the relationship of small Laplace variable versus large time variable and L'Hospital's rule. The result shows that the large‐time solution is identical to the steady‐state solution obtained after applying the Tauberian theorem into the Laplace domain solution. This large‐time solution can reduce to the Thiem equation in the case of no skin. Finally, the newly developed solution is used to investigate the effects of outer boundary distance and conductivity ratio on the wellbore flow rate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New analytical solutions for groundwater flow in wedge-shaped aquifers with various topographic boundary conditions

The hydraulic head distribution in a wedge-shaped aquifer depends on the wedge angle and the topographic and hydrogeological boundary conditions. In addition, an equation in terms of the radial distance with trigonometric functions along the boundary may be suitable to describe the water level configuration for a valley flank with a gentle sloping and rolling topography. This paper develops a general mathematical model including the governing equation and a variety of boundary conditions for the groundwater flow within a wedge-shaped aquifer. Based on the model, a new closed-form solution for transient flow in the wedge-shaped aquifer is derived via the finite sine transform and Hankel transform. In addition, a numerical approach, including the roots search scheme, the Gaussian quadrature, and Shanks’ method, is proposed for efficiently evaluating the infinite series and the infinite integral presented in the solution. This solution may be used to describe the head distribution for wedges that image theory is inapplicable, and to explore the effects of the recharge from various topographic boundaries on the groundwater flow system within a wedge-shaped aquifer.     

Comment on “An improved gray Lattice Boltzmann model for simulating fluid flow in multi-scale porous media”: Intrinsic links between LBE Brinkman schemes

In this Comment on the recent work (Zhu and Ma, 2013) [11] by Zhu and Ma (ZM) we first show that all three local gray Lattice Boltzmann (GLB) schemes in the form (Zhu and Ma, 2013) [11]: GS (Chen and Zhu, 2008; Gao and Sharma, 1994) [1,4], WBS (Walsh et al., 2009) [12] and ZM, fail to get constant Darcy’s velocity in series of porous blocks. This inconsistency is because of their incorrect definition of the macroscopic velocity in the presence of the heterogeneous momentum exchange, while the original WBS model (Walsh et al., 2009) [12] does this properly. We improve the GS and ZM schemes for this and other related deficiencies. Second, we show that the “discontinuous velocity” they recover on the stratified interfaces with their WBS scheme is inherent, in different degrees, to all LBE Brinkman schemes, including ZM scheme. None of them guarantees the stress and the velocity continuity by their implicit interface conditions, even in the frame of the two-relaxation-times (TRT) collision operator where these two properties are assured in stratified Stokes flow, Ginzburg (2007) [5]. Third, the GLB schemes are presented in work (Zhu and Ma, 2013) [11] as the alternative ones to direct, Brinkman-force based (BF) schemes (Freed, 1998; Nie and Martys, 2007) [3,8]. Yet, we show that the BF-TRT scheme (Ginzburg, 2008) [6] gets the solutions of any of the improved GLB schemes for specific, viscosity-dependent choice of its one or two local relaxation rates. This provides the principal difference between the GLB and BF: while the BF may respect the linearity of the Stokes–Brinkman equation rigorously, the GLB-TRT cannot, unless it reduces to the BF via the inverse transform of the relaxation rates. Furthermore, we show that, in limited parameter space, “gray” schemes may run one another. From the practical point of view, permeability values obtained with the GLB are viscosity-dependent, unlike with the BF. Finally, the GLB shares with the BF a so-called anisotropy (Ginzburg, 2008; Nie and Martys, 2007) [6,8], that is, flow-direction-dependency in their effective viscosity corrections, related to the discretized spatial variation of the resistance forcing.     

On the using cumulant expansion method and van Kampen’s lemma for stochastic differential equations with forcing

Second-order exact ensemble averaged equation for linear stochastic differential equations with multiplicative randomness and random forcing is obtained by using the cumulant expansion ensemble averaging method and by taking the time dependent sure part of the multiplicative operator into account. It is shown that the satisfaction of the commutativity and the reversibility requirements proposed earlier for linear stochastic differential equations without forcing are necessary for the linear stochastic differential equations with forcing when the cumulant expansion ensemble averaging method is used. It is shown that the applicability of the operator equality, which is used for the separation of operators in the literature, is also subjected to the satisfaction of the commutativity and the reversibility requirements. The van Kampen’s lemma, which is proposed for the analysis of nonlinear stochastic differential equations, is modified in order to make the probability density function obtained through the lemma depend on the forcing terms too. The second-order exact ensemble averaged equation for linear stochastic differential equations with multiplicative randomness and random forcing is also obtained by using the modified van Kampen’s lemma in order to validate the correctness of the modified lemma. Second-order exact ensemble averaged equation for one dimensional convection diffusion equation with reaction and source is obtained by using the cumulant expansion ensemble averaging method. It is shown that the van Kampen’s lemma can yield the cumulant expansion ensemble averaging result for linear stochastic differential equations when the lemma is applied to the interaction representation of the governing differential equation. It is found that the ensemble averaged equations given for one the dimensional convection diffusion equation with reaction and source in the literature obtained by applying the lemma to the original differential equation are restricted with small sure part of multiplicative operator. Second-order exact differential equations for the evolution of the probability density function for the one dimensional convection diffusion equation with reaction and source and one dimensional nonlinear overland flow equation with source are obtained by using the modified van Kampen’s lemma. The equation for the evolution of the probability density function for one dimensional nonlinear overland flow equation with source given in the literature is found to be not second-order exact. It is found that the differential equations for the evolution of the probability density functions for various hydrological processes given in the literature are not second-order exact. The significance of the new terms found due to the second-order exact ensemble averaging performed on the one dimensional convection diffusion equation with reaction and source and during the application of the van Kampen’s lemma to the one dimensional nonlinear overland flow equation with source is investigated.     

叠前逆时偏移影响因素分析

反射地震勘探中的偏移成像技术是获取地下介质构造形态最有效的手段之一.在叠前深度域偏移方法中,目前工业界采用的方法包括基于射线理论的波动方程积分解法和基于波动理论的微分波动方程单程波解法,这两类方法难以处理地震波横向速度变化剧烈的高陡倾角构造成像问题.近年来勘探地震学研究领域发展起来的叠前逆时偏移采用了双程波求解微分波动方程的算法,这种方法具有相位准确、不受介质横向速度变化和高陡倾角构造的影响、成像精度高、可以利用回转波正确成像等优点,从理论上弥补了当前工业界常规地震偏移所面临的成像缺陷.然而,叠前逆时偏移成像方法从理论走向实用尚需解决如下问题:计算速度和数据存储空间的节省、初始速度模型的建立、震源子波的选择、数值模型边界条件的定义和假像的消除等等.对于计算速度和存储量大的问题,随着计算机硬件的快速发展,将会不断得到改善,同时可以采取一些计算技术和存储策略来加以缓解.本文主要针对初始速度模型的建立、震源子波的选择、数值模型边界条件的定义和假像的消除这些因素,利用简单模型进行了分析.对于反射波造成的传播路径上的假像,给出了一种振幅补偿滤波方法.对勘探地球物理学界给出的SEG/EAGE二维盐丘模型、Marmousi模型和本研究设计的崎岖海底模型进行了叠前逆时偏移成像,均取得了较好的成像效果.     

Improving the Dupuit–Forchheimer groundwater free surface approximation

For steady two-dimensional free surface flow over a horizontal impervious base, the Dupuit–Forchheimer theory assumes that the vertical component of velocity is zero, even for non-zero accretion rate at the free surface. This is improved by assuming that the vertical velocity component is zero at the base, and is proportional to height above the base. This requires the piezometric head to depend linearly on the square of the height, and the two parameters in this relation can be fitted to the two boundary conditions at the free surface, to give an expression for the free surface slope in terms of accretion, free surface height, and the pressure integral. For problems in which the pressure integral is known explicitly, this first order of ordinary differential equation for the free surface height can be solved numerically. The solutions are more accurate than the Dupuit–Forchheimer expressions for the free surface, and much easier to calculate than numerical solutions to the full two-dimensional problem. Four examples are given, leading to some simple analytical approximations for quantities of interest.     

波动方程三维吸收边界分解与拟合深度偏移方法

在偏移问题中引入吸收边界条件，既可以消除由人工边界激发的虚假反射，从而提高剖面质量。又可以减少计算工作量．本文讨论了三维吸收边界条件方程，提出了求解具有吸收边界条件的三维波动方程偏移定解问题的分解与拟合方法。理论分析与合成记录及野外实际地震资料处理结果表明，本文方法为一有效的三维吸收边界深度偏移方法。     

The effect of heterogeneity on the character of density-driven natural convection of CO2 overlying a brine layer

The efficiency of mixing in density-driven natural-convection is largely governed by the aquifer permeability, which is heterogeneous in practice. The character (fingering, stable mixing or channeling) of flow-driven mixing processes depends primarily on the permeability heterogeneity character of the aquifer, i.e., on its degree of permeability variance (Dykstra-Parsons coefficient) and the correlation length. Here we follow the ideas of Waggoner et al. (1992) [13] to identify different flow regimes of a density-driven natural convection flow by numerical simulation. Heterogeneous fields are generated with the spectral method of Shinozuka and Jan (1972) [13], because the method allows the use of power-law variograms. In this paper, we extended the classification of Waggoner et al. (1992) [13] for the natural convection phenomenon, which can be used as a tool in selecting optimal fields with maximum transfer rates of CO₂ into water. We observe from our simulations that the rate of mass transfer of CO₂ into water is higher for heterogeneous media.     

Love waves in a two-layered crust overlying a vertically inhomogeneous halfspace I

Summary The frequency equation is derived for the propagation of Love waves in a two layered crust overlying an inhomogeneous half-space. While exact solutions of the differential equation involved are obtained in some particular cases, both an asymptotic series and the WKBJ approximations are discussed for the solution in the general case. The asymptotic series solution and the WKBJ solution are compared with each other and with the asymptotic expansion of the exact solution. There is a good agreement between various results. It is shown that some of the existing results can be derived as particular cases of the general results obtained in this investigation.     

A stochastic approach to nonlinear unconfined flow subject to multiple random fields

In this study, the KLME approach, a moment-equation approach based on the Karhunen–Loeve decomposition developed by Zhang and Lu (Comput Phys 194(2):773–794, 2004), is applied to unconfined flow with multiple random inputs. The log-transformed hydraulic conductivity F, the recharge R, the Dirichlet boundary condition H, and the Neumann boundary condition Q are assumed to be Gaussian random fields with known means and covariance functions. The F, R, H and Q are first decomposed into finite series in terms of Gaussian standard random variables by the Karhunen–Loeve expansion. The hydraulic head h is then represented by a perturbation expansion, and each term in the perturbation expansion is written as the products of unknown coefficients and Gaussian standard random variables obtained from the Karhunen–Loeve expansions. A series of deterministic partial differential equations are derived from the stochastic partial differential equations. The resulting equations for uncorrelated and perfectly correlated cases are developed. The equations can be solved sequentially from low to high order by the finite element method. We examine the accuracy of the KLME approach for the groundwater flow subject to uncorrelated or perfectly correlated random inputs and study the capability of the KLME method for predicting the head variance in the presence of various spatially variable parameters. It is shown that the proposed numerical model gives accurate results at a much smaller computational cost than the Monte Carlo simulation.     

Application of a second-order paraxial boundary condition to problems of dynamics of circular foundations on a porous layered half-space

A half-space finite element and a consistent transmitting boundary in a cylindrical coordinate system are developed for analysis of rigid circular (or cylindrical) foundations in a water-saturated porous layered half-space. By means of second-order paraxial approximations of the exact dynamic stiffness for a half-space in plane-strain and antiplane-shear conditions, the corresponding approximation for general three-dimensional wave motion in a Cartesian coordinate system is obtained and transformed in terms of cylindrical coordinates. Using the paraxial approximations, the half-space finite element and consistent transmitting boundary are formulated in a cylindrical coordinate system. The development is verified by comparison of dynamic compliances of rigid circular foundations with available published results. Examination of the advantage of the paraxial condition vis-á-vis the fixed condition shows that the former achieves substantial gain in computational effort. The developed half-space finite element and transmitting boundary can be employed for accurate and effective analysis of foundation dynamics and soil–structure interaction in a porous layered half-space.     

Nonlinear internal waves in ideal rotating basins

Abstract

Starting from Euler's equations of motion a nonlinear model for internal waves in fluids is developed by an appropriate scaling and a vertical integration over two layers of different but constant density. The model allows the barotropic and the first baroclinic mode to be calculated. In addition to the nonlinear advective terms dispersion and Coriolis force due to the Earth's rotation are taken into account. The model equations are solved numerically by an implicit finite difference scheme. In this paper we discuss the results for ideal basins: the effects of nonlinear terms, dispersion and Coriolis force, the mechanism of wind forcing, the evolution of Kelvin waves and the corresponding transport of particles and, finally, wave propagation over variable topography. First applications to Lake Constance are shown, but a detailed analysis is deferred to a second paper [Bauer et al. (1994)].