A mass conservative scheme for simulating shallow flows over variable topographies using unstructured grid

Most available numerical methods face problems, in the presence of variable topographies, due to the imbalance between the source and flux terms. Treatments for this problem generally work well for structured grids, but most of them are not directly applicable for unstructured grids. On the other hand, despite of their good performance for discontinuous flows, most available numerical schemes (such as HLL flux and ENO schemes) induce a high level of numerical diffusion in simulating recirculating flows. A numerical method for simulating shallow recirculating flows over a variable topography on unstructured grids is presented. This mass conservative approach can simulate different flow conditions including recirculating, transcritical and discontinuous flows over variable topographies without upwinding of source terms and with a low level of numerical diffusion. Different numerical tests cases are presented to show the performance of the scheme for some challenging problems.     

A high order WENO finite difference scheme for incompressible fluids and magnetohydrodynamics

We present a high order accurate weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) finite difference scheme for solving the equations of incompressible fluid dynamics and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). This scheme is a direct extension of a WENO scheme that has been successfully applied to compressible fluids, with or without magnetic fields. A fractional time-step method is used to enforce the incompressibility condition. Two basic elements of the WENO scheme, upwinding and wave decomposition, are shown to be important in solving the incompressible systems. Numerical results demonstrate that the scheme performs well for one-dimensional Riemann problems, a two-dimensional double-shear flow problem, and the two-dimensional Orszag–Tang MHD vortex system. They establish that the WENO code is numerical stable even when there are no explicit dissipation terms. It can handle discontinuous data and attain converged results with a high order of accuracy.     

Numerical resolution of well-balanced shallow water equations with complex source terms

This paper presents a well-balanced numerical scheme for simulating frictional shallow flows over complex domains involving wetting and drying. The proposed scheme solves, in a finite volume Godunov-type framework, a set of pre-balanced shallow water equations derived by considering pressure balancing. Non-negative reconstruction of Riemann states and compatible discretization of slope source term produce stable and well-balanced solutions to shallow flow hydrodynamics over complex topography. The friction source term is discretized using a splitting implicit scheme. Limiting value of the friction force is derived to ensure stability. This new numerical scheme is validated against four theoretical benchmark tests and then applied to reproduce a laboratory dam break over a domain with irregular bed profile.     

Fluid dispersion effects on density-driven thermohaline flow and transport in porous media

This study introduces the dispersive fluid flux of total fluid mass to the density-driven flow equation to improve thermohaline modeling of salt and heat transports in porous media. The dispersive fluid flux in the flow equation is derived to account for an additional fluid flux driven by the density gradient and mechanical dispersion. The coupled flow, salt transport and heat transport governing equations are numerically solved by a fully implicit finite difference method to investigate solution changes due to the dispersive fluid flux. The numerical solutions are verified by the Henry problem and the thermal Elder problem under a moderate density effect and by the brine Elder problem under a strong density effect. It is found that increment of the maximum ratio of the dispersive fluid flux to the advective fluid flux results in increasing dispersivity for the Henry problem and the brine Elder problem. The effects of the dispersive fluid flux on salt and heat transports under high density differences and high dispersivities are more noticeable than under low density differences and low dispersivities. Values of quantitative indicators such as the Nusselt number, mass flux, salt mass stored and maximum penetration depth in the brine Elder problem show noticeable changes by the dispersive fluid flux. In the thermohaline Elder problem, the dispersive fluid flux shows a considerable effect on the shape and the number of developed fingers and makes either an upwelling or a downwelling flow in the center of the domain. In conclusion, for the general case that involves strong density-driven flow and transport modeling in porous media, the dispersive fluid flux should be considered in the flow equation.     

A time-splitting pressure-correction projection method for complete two-fluid modeling of a local scour hole

A two-dimensional vertical (2DV), Eulerian two-phase model or complete two-fluid model of the free surface flow was developed to simulate water-sediment flow in a local scour hole. In the model, the complete forms of the vertical, two-dimensional, two-fluid Navier-Stokes equations were discretized using a finite volume scheme. This discretization was done based on a standard staggered grid system using a curvilinear network system in compliance with the bed boundaries and water level. At the beginning of the computational cycle, the equations governing the fluid phase were solved based on the two-step projection method with a pressure-correction technique. In the first step, the intermediate fluid velocities were obtained by solving different phases of the momentum equations of the fluid phase using the time-splitting technique. In the second step, pressure was obtained and fluid velocities were updated. In this step a simple discretization method was applied for decreasing the computational complexity. After obtaining all the fluid phase variables at a new time step, the sediment phase momentum equations were solved using the time-splitting technique and sediment velocities were obtained. Then, at the end of the computational cycle, the sediment phase mass equation was solved and the concentrations of both phases were updated. At last, the capacity of the model for simulating of the longitudinal fluid velocity and sediment concentration in a local scour hole was evaluated. Numerical results were found to be in good agreement with experimental data.     

Numerical modeling of lock-exchange gravity/turbidity currents by a high-order upwinding combined compact difference scheme

This study presents two-dimensional direct numerical simulations for sediment-laden current with higher density propagating forward through a lighter ambient water.The incompressible NavierStokes equations including the buoyancy force for the density difference between the light and heavy fluids are solved by a finite difference scheme based on a structured mesh.The concentration transport equations are used to explore such rich transport phenomena as gravity and turbidity currents.Within the framework of an Upwinding Combined Compact finite Difference(UCCD)scheme,rigorous determination of weighting coefficients underlies the modified equation analysis and the minimization of the numerical modified wavenumber.This sixth-order UCCD scheme is implemented in a four-point grid stencil to approximate advection and diffusion terms in the concentration transport equations and the first-order derivative terms in the Navier-Stokes equations,which can greatly enhance convective stability and increase dispersive accuracy at the same time.The initial discontinuous concentration field is smoothed by solving a newly proposed Heaviside function to prevent numerical instabilities and unreasonable concentration values.A two-step projection method is then applied to obtain the velocity field.The numerical algorithm shows a satisfying ability to capture the generation,development,and dissipation of the Kelvin-Helmholz instabilities and turbulent billows at the interface between the current and the ambient fluid.The simulation results also are compared with the data in published literatures and good agreements are found to prove that the present numerical model can well reproduce the propagation,particle deposition,and mixing processes of lock-exchange gravity and turbidity currents.     

A numerical method for simulating non-Newtonian fluid flow and displacement in porous media

Flow and displacement of non-Newtonian fluids in porous media occurs in many subsurface systems, related to underground natural resource recovery and storage projects, as well as environmental remediation schemes. A thorough understanding of non-Newtonian fluid flow through porous media is of fundamental importance in these engineering applications. Considerable progress has been made in our understanding of single-phase porous flow behavior of non-Newtonian fluids through many quantitative and experimental studies over the past few decades. However, very little research can be found in the literature regarding multi-phase non-Newtonian fluid flow or numerical modeling approaches for such analyses.For non-Newtonian fluid flow through porous media, the governing equations become nonlinear, even under single-phase flow conditions, because effective viscosity for the non-Newtonian fluid is a highly nonlinear function of the shear rate, or the pore velocity. The solution for such problems can in general only be obtained by numerical methods.We have developed a three-dimensional, fully implicit, integral finite difference simulator for single- and multi-phase flow of non-Newtonian fluids in porous/fractured media. The methodology, architecture and numerical scheme of the model are based on a general multi-phase, multi-component fluid and heat flow simulator — TOUGH2. Several rheological models for power-law and Bingham non-Newtonian fluids have been incorporated into the model. In addition, the model predictions on single- and multi-phase flow of the power-law and Bingham fluids have been verified against the analytical solutions available for these problems, and in all the cases the numerical simulations are in good agreement with the analytical solutions. In this presentation, we will discuss the numerical scheme used in the treatment of non-Newtonian properties, and several benchmark problems for model verification.In an effort to demonstrate the three-dimensional modeling capability of the model, a three-dimensional, two-phase flow example is also presented to examine the model results using laboratory and simulation results existing for the three-dimensional problem with Newtonian fluid flow.     

Total variation diminishing schemes for pollutant transport in porous media

A bidimensional numerical model has been used in order to simulate the contaminant transport in the coastal groundwater area (Atlantic margin of the Rharb basin, Morocco). This groundwater is materialized by means of the salt contamination derived from several factors: evapotranspiration, lithological series formations, marine intrusion, and processes of interaction between water and rocks. In order to reduce the numerical diffusion and limit the numerical dispersion, we use the Superbee flux limiter as a total variation diminishing scheme to discretize the convective operator. This kind of discretization was applied to the coastal groundwater of the Rharb basin (Morocco). The results show that the Superbee flux limiter is efficient at drawing the path of the contaminant front with high accuracy. Consequently, this scheme could constitute an approach in water management and allows one to prevent the risks of pollution and to manage the groundwater resource from a durable development perspective. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interaction of multiple courses of wave‐induced fluid flow in layered porous media

Different theoretical and laboratory studies on the propagation of elastic waves in layered hydrocarbon reservoir have shown characteristic velocity dispersion and attenuation of seismic waves. The wave‐induced fluid flow between mesoscopic‐scale heterogeneities (larger than the pore size but smaller than the predominant wavelengths) is the most important cause of attenuation for frequencies below 1 kHz. Most studies on mesoscopic wave‐induced fluid flow in the seismic frequency band are based on the representative elementary volume, which does not consider interaction of fluid flow due to the symmetrical structure of representative elementary volume. However, in strongly heterogeneous media with unsymmetrical structures, different courses of wave‐induced fluid flow may lead to the interaction of the fluid flux in the seismic band; this has not yet been explored. This paper analyses the interaction of different courses of wave‐induced fluid flow in layered porous media. We apply a one‐dimensional finite‐element numerical creep test based on Biot's theory of consolidation to obtain the fluid flux in the frequency domain. The characteristic frequency of the fluid flux and the strain rate tensor are introduced to characterise the interaction of different courses of fluid flux. We also compare the behaviours of characteristic frequencies and the strain rate tensor on two scales: the local scale and the global scale. It is shown that, at the local scale, the interaction between different courses of fluid flux is a dynamic process, and the weak fluid flux and corresponding characteristic frequencies contain detailed information about the interaction of the fluid flux. At the global scale, the averaged strain rate tensor can facilitate the identification of the interaction degree of the fluid flux for the porous medium with a random distribution of mesoscopic heterogeneities, and the characteristic frequency of the fluid flux is potentially related to that of the peak attenuation. The results are helpful for the prediction of the distribution of oil–gas patches based on the statistical properties of phase velocities and attenuation in layered porous media with random disorder.     

数值差分格式及格点设置对土壤温度模拟结果的影响

土壤温度是反映气候系统和生态系统能量循环的重要地球物理学参量,土壤温度的模拟精度直接影响着气候系统模式以及陆面物理过程模式的模拟结果.为了提高模式对土壤温度的模拟能力,本文利用土壤热扩散方程的傅里叶解析解定量研究了差分方案、格点设置以及时间步长对土壤温度模拟结果的影响;提出了一种优化的格点设置方案,并利用巴丹吉林沙漠观测数据检验了该方案的性能.研究结果表明:三种差分方案中,显式方案的模拟误差最小,Crank-Nicolson方案其次,隐式方案的模拟误差最大;每一种格点设置方案均存在一个使模拟结果误差最小的最优化时间步长;常用格点设置方案的最优化时间步长为5358 s,最小标准差为0.156 K,优化方案的最优化时间步长为1694 s,最小标准差为0.0465 K;取时间步长为1800 s时,采用常用格点设置方案,巴丹吉林沙漠10 cm深度土壤温度模拟结果的标准差为1.61 K,而采用优化方案,模拟结果的标准差降至0.21 K,改进效果明显.     

Adaptive finite element simulation of Stokes flow in porous media

The Stokes problem describes flow of an incompressible constant-viscosity fluid when the Reynolds number is small so that inertial and transient-time effects are negligible. The numerical solution of the Stokes problem requires special care, since classical finite element discretization schemes, such as piecewise linear interpolation for both the velocity and the pressure, fail to perform. Even when an appropriate scheme is adopted, the grid must be selected so that the error is as small as possible. Much of the challenge in solving Stokes problems is how to account for complex geometry and to capture important features such as flow separation. This paper applies adaptive mesh techniques, using a posteriori error estimates, in the finite element solution of the Stokes equations that model flow at pore scales. Different selected numerical test cases associated with various porous geometrics are presented and discussed to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of our methodology.     

Grid cell distortion and MODFLOW's integrated finite-difference numerical solution

The ground water flow model MODFLOW inherently implements a nongeneralized integrated finite-difference (IFD) numerical scheme. The IFD numerical scheme allows for construction of finite-difference model grids with curvilinear (piecewise linear) rows. The resulting grid comprises model cells in the shape of trapezoids and is distorted in comparison to a traditional MODFLOW finite-difference grid. A version of MODFLOW-88 (herein referred to as MODFLOW IFD) with the code adapted to make the one-dimensional DELR and DELC arrays two dimensional, so that equivalent conductance between distorted grid cells can be calculated, is described. MODFLOW IFD is used to inspect the sensitivity of the numerical head and velocity solutions to the level of distortion in trapezoidal grid cells within a converging radial flow domain. A test problem designed for the analysis implements a grid oriented such that flow is parallel to columns with converging widths. The sensitivity analysis demonstrates MODFLOW IFD's capacity to numerically derive a head solution and resulting intercell volumetric flow when the internal calculation of equivalent conductance accounts for the distortion of the grid cells. The sensitivity of the velocity solution to grid cell distortion indicates criteria for distorted grid design. In the radial flow test problem described, the numerical head solution is not sensitive to grid cell distortion. The accuracy of the velocity solution is sensitive to cell distortion with error <1% if the angle between the nonparallel sides of trapezoidal cells is <12.5 degrees. The error of the velocity solution is related to the degree to which the spatial discretization of a curve is approximated with piecewise linear segments. Curvilinear finite-difference grid construction adds versatility to spatial discretization of the flow domain. MODFLOW-88's inherent IFD numerical scheme and the test problem results imply that more recent versions of MODFLOW 2000, with minor modifications, have the potential to make use of a curvilinear grid.     

Influence of Boundary Condition Types on Unstable Density‐Dependent Flow

Boundary conditions are required to close the mathematical formulation of unstable density‐dependent flow systems. Proper implementation of boundary conditions, for both flow and transport equations, in numerical simulation are critical. In this paper, numerical simulations using the FEFLOW model are employed to study the influence of the different boundary conditions for unstable density‐dependent flow systems. A similar set up to the Elder problem is studied. It is well known that the numerical simulation results of the standard Elder problem are strongly dependent on spatial discretization. This work shows that for the cases where a solute mass flux boundary condition is employed instead of a specified concentration boundary condition at the solute source, the numerical simulation results do not vary between different convective solution modes (i.e., plume configurations) due to the spatial discretization. Also, the influence of various boundary condition types for nonsource boundaries was studied. It is shown that in addition to other factors such as spatial and temporal discretization, the forms of the solute transport equation such as divergent and convective forms as well as the type of boundary condition employed in the nonsource boundary conditions influence the convective solution mode in coarser meshes. On basis of the numerical experiments performed here, higher sensitivities regarding the numerical solution stability are observed for the Adams‐Bashford/Backward Trapezoidal time integration approach in comparison to the Euler‐Backward/Euler‐Forward time marching approach. The results of this study emphasize the significant consequences of boundary condition choice in the numerical modeling of unstable density‐dependent flow.     

Nonlinear iteration methods for nonequilibrium multiphase subsurface flow

Fully implicit, fully coupled techniques are developed for simulating multiphase flow with nonequilibrium mass transfer between phases, with application to groundwater contaminant flow and transport. Numerical issues which are addressed include: use of MUSCL or Van Leer flux limiters to reduce numerical dispersion, use of full or approximate Jacobian for flux limiter methods, and variable substitution for increased Newton iteration efficiency. A comparison of the performance of equilibrium and nonequilibrium models is also presented.     

Petrophysical characterization of porous media starting from micro-tomographic images

A quasi-static scheme based on pore space spatial statistics is presented to simulate pore-scale two-phase capillary-dominant displacement processes. The algorithm is coupled with computational fluid dynamics in order to evaluate saturation functions. Wettability heterogeneity in partial and fractional/mixed-wet media is implemented using a contact angle map. The simulation process is pixel-wised and performed directly on binary images. Bypassing and snap-off are tackled as non-wetting phase trapping mechanisms. Post-processing results include residual saturations, effective permeability and capillary pressure curves for drainage and imbibition scenarios. The primary advantages of the proposed workflow are eliminating pore space skeletisation/ discretization, superior time efficiency and minimal numerical drawbacks when compared to other direct or network-based simulation techniques.     

Balancing the source terms in a SPH model for solving the shallow water equations

A shallow flow generally features complex hydrodynamics induced by complicated domain topography and geometry. A numerical scheme with well-balanced flux and source term gradients is therefore essential before a shallow flow model can be applied to simulate real-world problems. The issue of source term balancing has been exhaustively investigated in grid-based numerical approaches, e.g. discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods and finite volume Godunov-type methods. In recent years, a relatively new computational method, smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH), has started to gain popularity in solving the shallow water equations (SWEs). However, the well-balanced problem has not been fully investigated and resolved in the context of SPH. This work aims to discuss the well-balanced problem caused by a standard SPH discretization to the SWEs with slope source terms and derive a corrected SPH algorithm that is able to preserve the solution of lake at rest. In order to enhance the shock capturing capability of the resulting SPH model, the Monotone Upwind-centered Scheme for Conservation Laws (MUSCL) is also explored and applied to enable Riemann solver based artificial viscosity. The new SPH model is validated against several idealized benchmark tests and a real-world dam-break case and promising results are obtained.     

Conjunctive surface-subsurface modeling of overland flow

In this paper, details of a conjunctive surface-subsurface numerical model for the simulation of overland flow are presented. In this model, the complete one-dimensional Saint-Venant equations for the surface flow are solved by a simple, explicit, essentially non-oscillating (ENO) scheme. The two-dimensional Richards equation in the mixed form for the subsurface flow is solved using an efficient strongly implicit finite-difference scheme. The explicit scheme for the surface flow component results in a simple method for connecting the surface and subsurface components. The model is verified using the experimental data and previous numerical results available in the literature. The proposed model is used to study the two-dimensionality effects due to non-homogeneous subsurface characteristics. Applicability of the model to handle complex subsurface conditions is demonstrated.     

A mixed-dimensional finite volume method for two-phase flow in fractured porous media

We present a vertex-centered finite volume method for the fully coupled, fully implicit discretization of two-phase flow in fractured porous media. Fractures are discretely modeled as lower dimensional elements. The method works on unstructured, locally refined grids and on parallel computers with distributed memory. An implicit time discretization is employed and the nonlinear systems of equations are solved with a parallel Newton-multigrid method. Results from two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations are presented.     

修正辛格式有限元法的地震波场模拟

三角网格有限元法具有网格剖分的灵活性,能有效模拟地震波在复杂介质中的传播.但传统有限元法用于地震波场模拟时计算效率较低,消耗较大计算资源.本文采用改进的核矩阵存储(IKMS)策略以提高有限元法的计算效率,该方法不用组合总体刚度矩阵,且相比于常规有限元法节省成倍的内存.对于时间离散,将有限元离散后的地震波运动方程变换至Hamilton体系,在显式二阶辛Runge-Kutta-Nystr9m(RKN)格式的基础之上加入额外空间离散算子构造修正辛差分格式,通过Taylor展开式得到具有四阶时间精度时间格式,且辛系数全为正数.本文从理论上分析了时空改进方法相比传统辛-有限元方法在频散压制、稳定性提升等方面的优势.数值算例进一步证实本方法具有内存消耗少、稳定性强和数值频散弱等优点.     

Temperature-driven fluid flow in porous media using a mixed finite element method and a finite volume method

We present a numerical scheme for the computation of conservative fluid velocity, pressure and temperature fields in a porous medium. For the velocity and pressure we use the primal–dual mixed finite element method of Trujillo and Thomas while for the temperature we use a cell-centered finite volume method. The motivation for this choice of discretization is to compute accurate conservative quantities. Since the variant of the mixed finite element method we use is not commonly used, the numerical schemes are presented in detail. We sketch the computational details and present numerical experiments that justify the accuracy predicted by the theory.