An extension of the open-source porousMultiphaseFoam toolbox dedicated to groundwater flows solving the Richards' equation

Abstract: In this note, the existing porousMultiphaseFoam toolbox, developed initially for any two-phase flow in porous media is extended to the specific case of the Richards' equation which neglect the pressure gradient of the non-wetting phase. This model is typically used for saturated and unsaturated groundwater flows. A Picard's algorithm is implemented to linearize and solve the Richards' equation developed in the pressure head based form. This new solver of the porousMultiphaseFoam toolbox is named groundwaterFoam. The validation of thesolver is achieved by a comparison between numerical simulations and results obtained from the literature. Finally, a parallel efficiency test is performed on a large unstructured mesh and exhibits a super-linear behavior as observed for the other solvers of the toolbox.