Finite Element for Contaminant Transport Problems

The numerical simulation of contaminant transport processes is often applied to the environmental and technical problem. In this study the system of governing differential equation was solved using a finite element method in the space domain and a finite difference scheme in the time domain for contaminant transport in a water channel. Numerical results indicated the existence of oscillations for different time step and distance .In order to overcome the problem of numerical oscillations the upwind finite element was used. The results showed that the upwind finite element produces solutions which are free of oscillation and considerably are accurate to the Galerkin scheme and also are in agreement with theoretical solutions.

Keywords:

contaminant transport , finite element , oscillation , upwind finite element