A perturbation boundary element code for steady state groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers

Abstract

A boundary element code is developed for the steady state Darcy's flow in heterogeneous porous media. The solution is based on the expansion of the piezometric head into perturbation series. The governing equation is decomposed into a Laplace equation and a sequence of Poisson equations with known right‐hand sides. Regular boundary element procedure is applied for their solutions. Three numerical examples with moderate hydraulic conductivity variations are provided to demonstrate the applicability of the code. The convergence of the perturbation solution is discussed using a one‐dimensional problem.