Application of Fininite Element Analysis to Groundwater Flow in Field Problems

The purposes of this paper are primarily to research on behavior of groundwater flow in saturated and unsaturated zone and to develop the most effective methods for solving groundwater flow problems related to civil engineering practice. The mathematical model provides a finite element solution to two- or threedimensional problems involving transient flow in the saturated and unsaturated domains of nonhomogeneous, anisotropic porous media. Before progressing into the various levels of applications the input data and boundary conditions are discussed and evaluated. To demonstrate the flexibility of the finite element approach and its capability in treating complex situations which are often encountered in the field, the groundwater flow through sand bank at flood water levels and the flow through aquifer due to an excavation were analyzed. As the results there were good qualitative agreements between the numerical results and the informations received.