EarthScienceModuleUsersGuide (COMSOL) 22 July

Earth Science Module
Users Guide
VERSION 4.1
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COMSOL Earth Science Module Users Guide

COPYRIGHT 19982010 COMSOL AB.
Protected by U.S. Patents 7,519,518; 7,596,474; and 7,623,991. Patents pending.

The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. The software may be used
or copied only under the terms of the license agreement. No part of this manual may be photocopied or
reproduced in any form without prior written consent from COMSOL AB.
COMSOL and COMSOL Multiphysics are registered trademarks of COMSOL AB. LiveLink and
COMSOL Desktop are trademarks of COMSOL AB..
Other product or brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Version: October 2010 COMSOL 4.1
Part number: CM020701

C O N T E N T S
Chapter 1: Introduction to the

About the Earth Science Module 10

Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library? . . . . . . 11
Typographical Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Modeling with the Earth Science Module 14

Where Do I Start with Earth Science Modeling? . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Earth Science Module Physics Interface Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 2: The Fluid Flow Interfaces
The Interfaces for Porous Media and Subsurface Flow 20

Selecting the Correct Fluid Flow Interface for Porous Media . . . . . . 21
The Single-Phase Flow, Laminar Flow Interface 23

Inlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Outlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The Darcys Law Interface 25

Fluid and Matrix Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Storage Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Richards Equation Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Mass Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Initial Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Boundary Conditions for the Darcys Law Interface . . . . . . . . . . 31
Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Pressure Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Hydraulic Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Mass Flux. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
CONTENTS |3
Inflow Boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
No Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Atmosphere/Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Pervious Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Flux Discontinuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Fracture Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
The Richards Equation Interface 39

Richards Equation Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Mass Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Initial Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Boundary Conditions for the Richards Equation Interface . . . . . . . 43
The Fracture Flow Interface 44

Storage Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Mass Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Initial Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Boundary Conditions for the Fracture Flow Interface . . . . . . . . . 47
The Brinkman Equations Interface 48

Forchheimer Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Volume Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Initial Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Boundary Conditions for the Brinkman Equations Interface . . . . . . . 53
The Free and Porous Media Flow Interface 54

Fluid Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Porous Matrix Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Forchheimer Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Volume Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Initial Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Boundary Conditions for the Free and Porous Media Flow Interface . . . 59
4 | CONTENTS
Theory for the Fluid Flow Single-Phase Interfaces 60
Theory for the Laminar Flow Interface 62

Compressible Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
The Mach Number Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Incompressible Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
The Reynolds Number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Numerical StabilityStabilization Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Pseudo Time Stepping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
The Projection Method for the Navier-Stokes Equations . . . . . . . . 67
The Boussinesq Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Laminar Inflow Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Laminar Outflow Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Theory for the Darcys Law Interface 73

Darcys LawEquation Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Hydraulic Head, Pressure Head, and Elevation Head . . . . . . . . . 76
Average Linear Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Theory for the Brinkman Equations Interface 77

Brinkman Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Theory for the Free and Porous Media Flow Interface 80
Theory for the Fracture Flow Interface 81

Equations and Material Models. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Theory for the Richards Equation Interface 83

Retention and Permeability Relationships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
C h a p t e r 3 : T h e S o l u t e Tr a n s p o r t I n t e r f a c e
The Solute Transport Interface 88

Free Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid and Gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
CONTENTS |5
Reactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Solute Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Initial Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Boundary Conditions for the Solute Transport Interface . . . . . . . . 96
Concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Inflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
No Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Outflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
No Flow Boundary Volatilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Flow Boundary Volatilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Flux Discontinuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Periodic Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Destination Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Open Boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Theory for the Solute Transport Interface 104

Solute Transport Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Advection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Sorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Dispersion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Diffusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Reactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Convective Term Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
C h a p t e r 4 : T h e H e a t Tr a n s f e r I n t e r f a c e s
The Mechanisms for Heat Transfer 114

Heat Conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Heat Convection and Conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
The Heat Transfer in Porous Media Interface 117

Porous Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Heat Transfer in Fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Thermal Dispersion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
6 | CONTENTS
Immobile Fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Geothermal Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Heat Source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Theory for the Heat Transfer in Porous Media Interface 126
C h a p t e r 5 : T h e Po r o e l a s t i c i t y I n t e r f a c e
The Poroelasticity Interface 128

Poroelastic Material Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Initial Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Theory for the Poroelasticity Interface 133

Background and Theory: Constitutive Relations . . . . . . . . . . 133
Chapter 6: Materials
Material Library and Databases 138

About the Material Library and Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
About Using Materials in COMSOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Working with the Material Browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Liquids and Gases Material Database 143

Using Material Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
INDEX 147
CONTENTS |7
8 | CONTENTS
1
Introduction to the
This section introduces you to the capabilities of the Earth Science Module and
provides and short overview of the type of modeling you can achieve with it. A
summary of the physics interfaces and where you can find documentation and
model examples is also included.
About the Earth Science Module

Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?
Typographical Conventions
Modeling with the Earth Science Module
Earth Science Module Physics Interface Guide
9
About the Earth Science Module
The earth and surrounding planets are a giant laboratory filled with an unlimited array
of basic physics and multiphysics interactions. Whether in concert or alone, these
physical phenomena alter our access to important resources, affect the quality of the
environment, shape the ground beneath our feet on earth, and form other planets.
The Earth Science Module is an optional package that extends the COMSOL
Multiphysics modeling environment to the quantitative investigation of geophysical
and environmental phenomena. It is designed for researchers, engineers, developers,
teachers, and students, and suits both single-physics and interdisciplinary study. The
Earth Science Module includes a set of fundamental building blocks with which to
pose and answer a wide array of physics questions. The physics interfaces it offers
function on their own and link arbitrarily. They also couple to physics already built into
COMSOL Multiphysics, to any new equations you create, and to the physics interfaces
in the other specialized modules.
The interfaces, options, and functionalities are tailored to account for geologic process
terms. The Heat Transfer branch of the Model Wizard, for example, include features
to superpose a background geotherm without incorporating it as a boundary
condition. These interfaces also include options to automate the calculation of
effective thermal properties for multicomponent systems.
The Fluid Flow branch represent a wide range of possibilities. The Richards Equation
interface describes nonlinear flow in variably saturated porous media. The options for
saturated porous media include the Darcys Law interface for slow flow and the
Brinkman Equations interface where shear is non-negligible. The Single-Phase Flow,
Laminar interface uses the Navier-Stokes equations to cover free flows and the Fracture
Flow interface is used for modeling flow in fractures.
The module also treats the transport of chemicals and their reactions with the
Chemical Species Transport branch. The Solute Transport interface account for
chemical transfer in solid, liquid, and gas phases for free, saturated, and variably
saturated fluid flows. A number of the examples in the model library link these
interfaces together. Some also bring in other physics from COMSOL Multiphysics. See
Modeling with the Earth Science Module for more information about these interfaces.
10 | CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE

Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?
Note: If you are working directly from a PDF on your computer, the blue links do
not work to open a model or documentation referenced in a different user guide.
However, if you are using the online help desk in COMSOL Multiphysics, these links
work to other modules, model examples, and documentation sets.
A number of Internet resources provide more information about COMSOL

Multiphysics, including licensing and technical information. The electronic
documentation, Dynamic Help, and the Model Library are all accessed through the
COMSOL Desktop.
THE DOCUMENTATION
The COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide and COMSOL Multiphysics Reference
Guide describe all the interfaces included with the basic COMSOL license. These
guides also have instructions about how to use COMSOL Multiphysics, and how to
access the documentation electronically through the COMSOL Multiphysics help
desk.
To locate and search all the documentation, in COMSOL, select Help>Documentation

from the main menu and either enter a search term or look under a specific module in
the documentation tree.
THE MODEL LIBRARY

Each model comes with a theoretical background and step-by-step instructions to
create the model. The models are available in COMSOL as MPH-files that you can
open for further investigation. Use both the step-by-step instructions and the actual
models as a template for your own modeling and applications. SI units are used to
describe the relevant properties, parameters, and dimensions in most examples, but
other unit systems are available.
To open any model in COMSOL, select File>Open Model Library from the main menu,
and then search either by name or browse by module name. If you also want to review
the documentation explaining how to build a model, select the model and click Model
PDF or Dynamic Help to reach the PDF or HTML version, respectively. Alternatively,
select Help>Documentation in COMSOL and again, search by name or browse by
module under Model Library in the documentation tree.
ABOUT THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE | 11

If you have feedback or suggestions for additional models for the library (including
those developed by you), feel free to contact us at info@comsol.com.
COMSOL WEB SITES

Main corporate web site: http://www.comsol.com/
Worldwide contact information: http://www.comsol.com/contact/
Online technical support main page: http://www.comsol.com/support/
COMSOL Support Knowledge Base, your first stop for troubleshooting assistance,
where you can search for answers to any COMSOL questions:
http://www.comsol.com/support/knowledgebase/
Product updates: http://www.comsol.com/support/updates/
CONT ACT ING COMSOL BY EMAIL

For general product information, contact COMSOL at info@comsol.com.
To receive technical support from COMSOL for the COMSOL products, please
contact your local COMSOL representative or send your questions to
support@comsol.com. You will receive an automatic notification and a case number by
email.
COMSOL COMMUNITY
On the COMSOL web site, you find a user community at http://www.comsol.com/
community/. The user community includes a discussion forum, a model exchange,
news postings, and a searchable database of papers and presentations.
Typographical Conventions
All COMSOL manuals use a set of consistent typographical conventions that should
make it easy for you to follow the discussion, realize what you can expect to see on the
screen, and know which data you must enter into various data-entry fields. In
particular, you should be aware of these conventions:
A boldface font of the shown size and style indicates that the given word(s) appear
exactly that way on the COMSOL Desktop (or, for toolbar buttons, in the
corresponding tooltip). For instance, we often refer to the Model Builder window,
which is the window that contains the model tree. As another example, the
instructions might say to click the Zoom Extents button, and the boldface font

indicates that you can expect to see a button with that exact label on the COMSOL
Desktop.
Click text highlighted in blue to go to other information in the PDF. When you are
using the online help desk in COMSOL Multiphysics, these links also work to other
modules, model examples, and documentation sets.
The names of other items on the COMSOL Desktop that do not have direct labels
contain a leading uppercase letter. For instance, we often refer to the Main toolbar;
this horizontal bar containing many icons appears on top of the user interface.
However, nowhere on the screen will you see the term Main referring to this
toolbar.
The symbol > indicates a menu item. For example, Options>Results is equivalent to:
From the Options menu, choose Results.
A Code (monospace) font indicates keyboard entries in the user interface. You might
see an instruction such as Type 1.25 in the Current density edit field. The
monospace font also indicates code. This font also indicates variable names. An italic
Code (monospace) font indicates user inputs and parts of names that can vary or be
defined by the user.
An italic font indicates the introduction of important terminology. Expect to find
an explanation in the same paragraph or in the Glossary. The names of books in the
COMSOL documentation set also appear using an italic font.
ABOUT THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE | 13

Modeling with the Earth Science
Module
The Earth Science Module has a set of physics interfaces adopted for a broad category
of simulations important in earth investigations. These interface and models can serve
equally well as tools for research, applied investigations, and classroom education.
The predefined physics available in this module cover three main application areas and
are added from the Add Physics page in the Model Wizard. Also see the Earth Science
Module Physics Interface Guide with a list of these interfaces and in which space
dimension each are available.
The Fluid Flow Branch

This group of interfaces estimates the pressure and velocity of fluids flowing in free
systems and within the interstices of a porous medium. They include:
The Single-Phase Flow, Laminar Flow Interface ( ), using the Navier-Stokes

equations for surface and other free flows
The Darcys Law Interface ( ) for flow in porous media that is relatively slow
The Richards Equation Interface ( ) for variably saturated systems
The Fracture Flow Interface ( ), a special application of Darcys law for modeling
flow in fractures.
The Brinkman Equations Interface ( ) for fast flow in porous media flow
The Free and Porous Media Flow Interface ( ) for modeling fluid flow in systems
with both free and porous media flow.
With Darcys law and Richards equation, COMSOL Multiphysics solves for pressure
and offers interfaces for pressure head and hydraulic head. You can set up these
equations for single or multiple fluids. You can also couple them to other physics to
describe poroelasticity, convection of heat- and density-driven flows, solute transfer,
and electromagnetic forces, to name a few.
The Chemical Species Transport Branch

The Solute Transport Interface ( ) characterize the fate and transport of individual
or multiple and interacting chemical species for systems containing fluids, solids, and
gases. The equations supply predefined options to describe mass transfer by advection,
dispersion, diffusion, sorption, and reactions. You define the convective term in the

mass-transport vector either with any of the momentum balances just mentioned or
you set it to a predefined velocity profile.
This interface describes the movements and reactions of a single solute, multiple
solutes, and solutes that interact. The interface suits modeling of transport in saturated
porous media, fluids, and even solid state diffusion, where the physics can be slow
diffusion in a solid or stagnant pond, rapid transport in a fracture, or
temperature-dependent reactions in multiple phases. This physics interface also covers
leaching from pesticide applications and landfills as well as chemical partitioning from
liquid to vapor phase. It is available in all space dimensions.
This physics interface facilitates environmental models of pollutants migrating in an

aquifer and reservoir analyses involving oil flow stimulated by surfactants. It also suits
assessing microbial communities and movement of dissolved oxygen in a river or waste
stream.
Linking arbitrarily to and from other physics allows an unusually wide range of
investigation. Links provide driving forces such as velocity and electric fields plus
feedback chemical to other physics. Chemical properties and reactions can change and
be changed by temperature, pressure, electric potential, magnetic potential, and shear
rates. Temperature-dependent dissolution rates, exothermic and endothermic
reactions, phase changes, electrochemistry, and ferrofluidics fall well inside the wide
range of multiphysics processes that are straightforward to describe in a single model.
Expressions for fluid velocities can come from any flow equation in COMSOL
Multiphysics, including model results and equations you write yourself. This means
you can enter a number or an expression to drive the solute transport without fully
simulating the flow field.
As an example, pesticides sprayed onto crops leach into the dry soil with irrigation. The
chemical plume can spread or disperse as the contaminated liquid migrates around
solid grains.
The Heat Transfer Branch

This group of physics interfaces estimates the temperature distribution in solids, fluids,
and fluid-solid systems. It includes interfaces to estimate effective properties in
multicomponent systems. All heat transfer interfaces come with interfaces to account
for a geotherm brought about through radiogenic decay. The Heat Transfer in Porous
Media Interface ( ) lets you describe heat transferred both with and without flowing
fluids. You can define the velocity in the convective term with any of the flow equations
just mentioned or set it with an arbitrary expression. With convective heat transfer, the
MODELING WITH THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE | 15

effective thermal properties also include an option to estimate the dispersion or
spreading of heat from small-scale velocity variations.
Note: If you have the Earth Science Module plus the Chemical Reaction Engineering
and/or Heat Transfer Modules, the Heat Transfer interface also has extended
features available.
The Structural Mechanics Branch

The Poroelasticity Interface ( ), used for Biots poroelasticity, combines Darcys law
with solid mechanics and provides suitable settings for describing the interaction
between porous media and fluids.
Where Do I Start with Earth Science Modeling?

Many of the Earth Science Modules physics interfaces have predefined equations or
sets of equations adapted to earth-science applications. These are based on the
equations for momentum transport (fluid flow), energy transport (heat transfer), and
mass transport. You can take the equations in these physics interfaces and the variables
they offer and then modify them, link them together, and couple them to physics
represented elsewhere in COMSOL Multiphysics.
Numerical modeling typically begins with a question about some physical

phenomenon within a particular region of interest. Defining the question well means
that the type of information needed to answer it is obvious. You then identify which
physics are actually important to answering the question and how they interact. Next
you define a mathematical model fitted to this conceptual model of the physics for the
domain of interest. The mathematical model contains governing equations with
boundary conditions and possibly initial conditions. The boundary conditions detail
how the model domain interacts with the surrounding environment. The initial
conditions make up a snapshot of the physics at some initial time. After the software
solves the mathematical model, you interpret the results in light of the original
question.
In COMSOL Multiphysics you solve equation-based models of physical processes by

balancing modeled entities, for example, mass or heat (energy). To balance a given

modeled entity u, examine its flux j in a unit cell at a given time t. In this case, u might
represent mass or heat per unit volume where
z
jx
y
jy
jz
u t + t u t
xyz -------------------------- = yz j x + x j x xz j y + y j y
t
xy j z + z j z + xyzF
In this equations the term on the left-hand side represents accumulation or the change
in the amount of u stored in some time period t. The final term on the right-hand
side represents a volume source or sink. The terms in between represent the difference
in the fluxes across the surfaces of the volume. Dividing both sides by xyz gives
the equation
u t u t t j x + x j x j y + y j y j z + z j z
-------------------------
- = -----------------------------
- ------------------------------ ----------------------------- + F
t x y z
Allowing the time period t and the volume to become infinitesimally small gives the
base equation for a large family of problems in Earth sciences:
-----
u-
= j + F
t
This equation appears in different forms throughout this manual. If the modeled entity
u is a vector, it requires a balance for every direction in space. To find a unique solution
to this system, you must specify proper initial conditions and boundary conditions.
The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations characterize the flow of freely moving

fluids. This suits assessments involving liquids and gases that migrate within rivers,
MODELING WITH THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE | 17

pipes, fractures, and streams, for example. The interface couples arbitrarily with other
physics including the solute transport and heat transfer equations. It also links with
other flow equations, which allows modeling of unusual systems including the eddying
that results when ferrofluids move in the presence of a magnetic field. This physics
interface is useful for flows of Newtonian fluids where the density can be assumed to
be constant or nearly constant.
Earth Science Module Physics Interface Guide
PHYSICS INTERFACE AVAILABILITY BY SPACE DIMENSION

The Earth Science Module interfaces are available in 2D, 2D axisymmetry, and 3D.
The interfaces for heat transfer and species transport are also available in 1D and 1D
axisymmetry. All interfaces are available for both stationary and time-dependent
analyses. You can combine the interfaces to model, for example, reacting systems and
non-isothermal flow. Alternatively, you can use predefined multiphysics interfaces.
PHYSICS INTERFACE AND LINK ICON TAG 1D 1D AXI 2D 2D AXI 3D
Chemical Species Transport

Solute Transport esst
Fluid Flow
Porous Media and Subsurface Flow
Darcys Law dl
Richards Equation dl
Fracture Flow esff
Brinkman Equations br
Free and Porous Media Flow fp
Heat Transfer
Heat Transfer in Porous Media ht
Structural Mechanics
Poroelasticity poro

2
The Fluid Flow Interfaces
This section has information about the interfaces available in the Fluid Flow
branch of the Model Wizard.
Note: See the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide for details about the
Single-Phase Flow, Laminar Flow interface, except where noted in The
Single-Phase Flow, Laminar Flow Interface.
The Interfaces for Porous Media and Subsurface Flow

The Darcys Law Interface
The Richards Equation Interface
The Fracture Flow Interface
The Brinkman Equations Interface
The Free and Porous Media Flow Interface
19
The Interfaces for Porous Media and
Subsurface Flow
The Fluid Flow branch in the Earth Science Module has interfaces for characterizing
movements of liquids, gases, and other flowing media, such as molten rock.
In the Model Wizards Add Physics page, the Porous Media and Subsurface Flow
branch ( ) contain interfaces for the following sets of equations that apply under
different conditions.
Use the Darcys Law interface to describe low-velocity flows of one or more fluids
The Fracture Flow interface uses a variant of Darcys law that defines the flow along
the interior boundaries representing fractures within a porous (or solid) medium
For porous media, use the Brinkman Equations interface for high-velocity flows
Use the Richards Equations interface to govern the wetting and drying of rocks
or soils
Use the Free and Porous Media Flow interface that combines free flow adjacent to
porous domains
The Laminar Flow interface ( ) is available with all COMSOL licenses and uses
the Navier-Stokes equations to describe free flows within a river or well, for
example.
PHYSICS INTERFACE ICON TAG 1D 1D AXI 2D 2D AXI 3D
Darcys Law dl
Richards Equation dl
Fracture Flow esff
Brinkman Equations br
Free and Porous Media Flow fp
20 | CHAPTER 2: THE FLUID FLOW INTERFACES

Selecting the Correct Fluid Flow Interface for Porous Media
To model fluid flows in porous media you can use either Darcys Law or the Brinkman
Equations interface. Darcys law is preferable when the major driving force for the flow
is the pressure gradient, and the momentum transfer by shear stresses within the fluid
is negligible. This is usually true in the case of low permeability in the porous medium.
The corresponding physics interfaces combine arbitrarily and link to other physics
including solute transport, heat transfer, electric potentials, magnetic potentials, and
structural deformation, to name a few. Because you can type in any expression for
coefficients like permeability or density, the equations set up in this module are
especially flexible.
Figure 2-1 illustrates typical settings where the various flow regimes apply.
unsaturated
saturated
free
transitional
Figure 2-1: Vertical cross section through ground near a river. Labels indicate flow
regimes. The triangle denotes the water table.
The Single-Phase Flow, Laminar Flow interface uses Navier-Stokes equations for flows
of liquids and gases moving freely in pipes, channels, caves, and rivers. These equations
detail fluid movements through the intricate networks of pores and cracks in porous
media. The scale of interest in most geologic problems, however, makes solving for
velocity profiles within pores unfeasible owing to the sheer volume of the data required
and machine constraints on computational effort.
THE INTERFACES FOR POROUS MEDIA AND SUBSURFACE FLOW | 21

The porous media physics interfacesDarcys Law, Brinkman Equation, and Richards
Equationcircumvent detailing flow in each pore. Instead these equations estimate
flow rates by lumping the properties of the solid grains and the spaces between them
in representative volumes.
The fluid flow interfaces in this module can be grouped according to driving forces.
Consider Bernoullis equation for mechanical energy along a streamline in inviscid
fluids:
d- ------
1 2 -------
1 d d
----- u + - ------ p + ------ D = const.
ds 2g f g ds ds
Here s represents a location on the streamline, u denotes the fluid velocity, f is the
fluid density, p refers to the fluid pressure, g represents gravity, and D is the elevation.
The Bernoulli equation states that the total mechanical energy is constant along the
fluid trajectory in a steady flow system. Moreover, the energy can shift between
velocity, pressure, and elevation along the streamline.
With the extended Laminar Flow interface and the Brinkman Equations, all the driving
forces are non-negligible. When solved, the equations give the directional fluid
velocities and the pressure; elevation is a coordinate in the model. With Darcys Law
and Richards Equation, the momentum is so small it can be neglected. Pressure alone
drives the flow for these physics interfaces.

The Single-Phase Flow, Laminar Flow
Interface
When you have the Earth Science Module, it adds the Laminar Inflow and Laminar
Outflow options to the Single-Phase Flow, Laminar interface. These boundary
conditions are described below. For all other feature available on the Single-Phase
Flow, Laminar Flow interface, including the theory, see the sections The Single-Phase
Flow, Laminar Flow Interface and Theory for all the Single-Phase Flow Interfaces in
the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or see Where Do I Access the
Documentation and Model Library?).
Inlet
Laminar Inflow
This boundary prescribes a laminar velocity profiles using the implementation
described in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide Laminar Inflow Condition.
Use the following settings to specify a Laminar inflow boundary condition:
First select which flow quantity to specify for the inlet:
Click Average velocity to enter an average velocity Uav (SI unit: m/s).
Click Flow rate to enter the flow rate V0 (SI unit: m3/s).
Click Entrance pressure to enter the entrance pressure pentr (SI unit: Pa) at the end
of the inlet.
Second, you need to specify the following parameters and options:
Enter the Entrance length Lentr (SI unit: m). This defines the length of the inlet
channel outside the model domain. This value must be large enough so that the flow
can reach a laminar profile. The default is 1.
For 2D and 2D axisymmetric models, select the Constrain endpoints to zero check
box to force the laminar profile to go to zero at the outer sides of the inlet channel.
Otherwise the velocity is defined by the boundary condition of the adjacent
boundary in the model. For example, if one end of a boundary with a Laminar
inflow condition connects to a Slip boundary condition, then the laminar profile has
a maximum at that end.
T H E S I N G L E - PH A S E FL O W, LA M I N A R F L OW I N T E R F AC E | 23
For 3D models, select the Constrain outer edges to zero check box, which has the
same effect as described for 2D models.
Outlet
Laminar Outflow
This boundary prescribes a laminar velocity profiles using the implementation
described in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide Laminar Outflow Condition.
Use the following settings to specify a Laminar outflow boundary condition:
First select which flow quantity to specify for the outlet:
Click Average velocity to enter an average velocity Uav (SI unit: m/s) through the
outlet.
Click Flow rate to enter the flow rate V0 (SI unit: m3/s) through the outlet.
Click Exit pressure to specify the entrance pressure pexit (SI unit: Pa) at the end of
the inlet.
Second, specify the following parameters and options:
Enter the Exit length Lexit (SI unit: m). This defines the length of the inlet channel
outside the model domain. This value must be large enough so that the flow can
reach a laminar profile. The default is 1.
For 2D and 2D axisymmetric models, select the Constrain endpoints to zero check
box to force the laminar profile to go to zero at the outer sides of the outlet channel.
Otherwise the velocity is defined by the boundary condition of the adjacent
boundary in the model. For example, if one end of a boundary with a Laminar
inflow condition connects to a Slip boundary condition, then the laminar profile has
a maximum at that end.
For 3D models, select the Constrain outer edges to zero check box, which has the
same effect as described for 2D models.

The Darcys Law Interface
The Darcys Law interface ( ) has the equations, boundary conditions, and mass
sources for modeling fluid movement through interstices in a porous medium using
Darcys law. The main feature is the Fluid and Matrix Properties which provides an
interface for defining the fluid material along with the porous medium properties.
For a more extensive introduction to the physics and equations implemented by this
interface, see the Theory for the Darcys Law Interface.
When you add this interface, these default nodes are also added to the Model Builder
Fluid and Matrix Properties, No Flow (the default boundary condition), and Initial Values.
Right-click the Darcy's Law node to add features that implement, for example,
boundary conditions and mass sources. The following sections provide information
about all feature nodes in the interface.
INTERFACE IDENTIFIER
The interface identifier is a text string that can be used to reference the respective
physics interface if appropriate. Such situations could occur when coupling this
interface to another physics interface, or when trying to identify and use variables
defined by this physics interface, which you use to reach the fields and variables in
expressions, for example. You can change it to any unique string in the Identifier edit
field.
The default identifier (for the first interface in the model) is dl.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the pressure and the Darcys law and
continuity equation. The default setting is to include all domains in the model.
EQUATION
The default Study types are listed in the Equation Form list. Study controlled is the
default selection. The availability of the Equation display options are based on how
each model is constructed. Select options as required and see Physics Interface
NodesEquation Section in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide or see Where
Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library? for more information.
T H E D A R C Y S L A W I N T E R F A C E | 25
GRAVITY EFFECTS
By default there are no gravity effects. You can add gravity in the Gravity Effects section.
Select On from the Gravity effects list to activate the acceleration of gravity. With the
gravity effect active, you can specify the elevation D in the Elevation edit field (SI unit:
m). The default setting is z for 3D and 2D axisymmetric geometries and y for 2D
planar geometries. When Gravity effects is Off, the elevation D is set equal to zero.
Under Acceleration of gravity you enter the value for the acceleration of gravity g (SI
unit: m/s2). The default value is taken from the predefined physical constant g_const,
which is the standard acceleration of gravity. See Physical Constants in the COMSOL
Multiphysics Users Guide (or see Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model
Library?).
DEPENDENT VARIABLES
To display this section, select Show More Options from the View menu in the Model
Builder. The dependent variable (field variable) is for the Pressure. You can change the
name in the corresponding edit field, but the names of fields and dependent variables
must be unique within a model.
ADVANCED SETTINGS
Builder. Normally these settings do not need to be changed. See Show More Options:
Advanced Settings in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide.
DISCRETIZATION
Builder. Select a PressureQuadratic (the default), Linear, Cubic, or Quintic.
Fluid and Matrix Properties

The Fluid and Matrix Properties feature adds Equation 2-18 and Equation 2-20
(excluding any mass sources).
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to use the Fluid and Matrix Properties feature. The
default setting is to use all domains where the Darcys Law interface is active.

MODEL INPUTS
Define model inputs, for example, the temperature field if the material model uses a
temperature-dependent material property. If no model inputs are required, this section
is empty.
Absolute Pressure
This section controls both the variable as well as any property value (reference
pressures) used when solving for pressure. There are usually two ways of computing
the pressure when describing fluid flow, and mass and heat transfer. You can solve for
the absolute pressure or a pressure (often denoted gauge pressure) that relates back to
the absolute pressure through a reference pressure.
Using one or the other usually depends on the system and the equations you are
solving for. For example, in a straight incompressible flow problem, the pressure drop
over the modeled domain is probably many orders of magnitude less than atmospheric
pressure, which, if included, reduces the chances for stability and convergence during
the solving process for this variable. In an other case, the absolute pressure may be
required to be solved for, such as where pressure is a part of an expression for gas
volume or diffusion coefficients.
The pressure model input is controlled by both a drop-down list and a check box
within this section. The User defined option can be used to manually define the
absolute pressure in your system.
There is also an option to use the pressure variable solved for in current physics
interface (for example, Pressure (dl/dlm1)) or a pressure variable defined by another
interface. Selecting a pressure variable also activates a check box for defining the
reference pressure, where 1[atm] (1 atmosphere) is the default value. This makes it
possible to use a system-based (gauge) pressure as the pressure variable, while
automatically including the reference pressure in places where it is required, such as for
gas flow governed by the gas law. While this check box maintains control over the
pressure variable and instances where absolute pressure is required within this physics
interface, it may not with interfaces that you are coupling to, such as mass transfer and
heat transfer interfaces. You should check the coupling between any interfaces using
the same variable.
FLUID PROPERTIES
Select the material to use for the fluid properties. Select Domain material from the Fluid
material list (the default value) to use the material defined for the domain. Select
another material from the Fluid material list to use that materials properties for the
fluid.
Density
The default Density (SI unit: kg/m3) uses values From material based on the Fluid
material selected. If User defined is selected, enter a different value or expression. The
default is 0 kg/m3.
Dynamic Viscosity
The default Dynamic viscosity (SI unit: Pas) uses values From material as defined by
the Fluid material selected. If User defined is selected, enter another value or expression.
The default is 0 Pas.
If you choose to specify the hydraulic conductivity instead of the permeability in the
Matrix Properties section, the settings for the dynamic viscosity are unavailable. The
hydraulic conductivity is defined using a combination of fluid and matrix properties
and replaces the need of defining the dynamic viscosity.
MATRIX PROPERTIES
Select the material to use as porous matrix. Select Domain material from the Porous
material list (the default value) to use the material defined for the porous domain.
Select another material from the Porous material list to use that materials properties.
Permeability
Select a Permeability model to specify the capacity of the porous material to transmit
flowPermeability to define the permeability of the porous matrix, or Hydraulic
conductivity, to define a combination of fluid permeability and dynamic viscosity.
If Permeability (SI unit: m2) is selected, the default uses the value From material,
as defined by the Porous material selected. If User defined is selected, choose Isotropic
to define a scalar value or Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic to enter a tensor value
and enter other values or expressions in the field or matrix.
If Hydraulic conductivity K (SI unit: m/s) is selected, choose Isotropic to define a
scalar value or Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic to define a tensor value.
Porosity
The default Porosity p (SI unit: a dimensionless number between 0 and 1) uses the
value From material, defined by the Porous material selected. If User defined is selected,
enter another value or expression The default is 0.

Storage Model
The Storage Model feature adds Equation 2-18 and Equation 2-22 (excluding any mass
sources).
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the pressure and the Darcys law with a
storage model.
MODEL INPUTS
is empty.
FLUID PROPERTIES
The default Fluid material uses the Domain material (the material defined for the
domain). Select another material as required.
material selected. If User defined is selected, enter another value or expression. The
default is 0 kg/m3.
The Dynamic viscosity (SI unit: Pas) uses values From material based on the Fluid
default is 0 Pas.
Note: If Hydraulic conductivity is selected as the Permeability model (see the Matrix
Properties section), dynamic viscosity is not available. The hydraulic conductivity is
defined using a combination of fluid and matrix properties and replaces the need of
defining the dynamic viscosity.
MATRIX PROPERTIES
The default Porous material uses the Domain material (the material defined for the
domain) for the porous matrix. Select another material as required.
Permeability Model
flow. Select Permeability to define the permeability of the porous matrix, or Hydraulic
If Permeability (SI unit: m2) is selected, the default uses the value From material,
as defined by the Porous material selected. If User defined is selected, choose Isotropic
to define a scalar value or Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic to define a tensor value
and enter other values or expressions.
If Hydraulic conductivity K (SI unit: m/s) is selected, choose Isotropic to define a
scalar value or Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic to enter a tensor value.
Porosity
The default Porosity p (SI unit: a dimensionless number between 0 and 1) uses values
From material as defined by the Porous material selected. If User defined is selected,
enter another value or expression. The default is 0.
STORAGE MODEL
Define the properties that define the porous matrix and the storage model. Select a
Storage S (SI unit: 1/Pa)Linearized storage or User defined.
If Linearized storage is selected, it uses the following linear equation to define the
storage:
S = f + 1 p p
This expression is equivalent to the Reuss average of the fluid and solid
compressibilities. Enter the value or expression for each of these properties to define
the linear storage:
- Compressibility of fluid f (SI unit: 1/Pa)
- Effective compressibility of matrix p (SI unit: 1/Pa)
If User defined is selected, enter a Storage S (SI unit: 1/Pa) value or expression.
Richards Equation Model

The Richards Equation Model feature provides an interface for defining the storage and
retention models in variably saturated porous media. See the Richards Equation
Model described for the Richards Equation interface.

Mass Source
The Mass Source feature adds a mass source Qm, which appears on the right-hand side
of the Equation 2-20 which is the equation for porosity.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define a mass source.
MASS SOURCE
Enter a value or expression for the Mass source Qm (SI unit: kg/(m3s)).
Initial Values
The Initial Values feature adds an initial value for the pressure that can serve as an initial
condition for a transient simulation or as an initial guess for a nonlinear solver.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define an initial value.
IN IT IA L VA LUES
Enter a value or expression for the initial value of the Pressure p (SI unit: Pa). The
default value is 0 Pa.
Boundary Conditions for the Darcys Law Interface

The Darcys Law interface provides a number of boundary conditions. The following
boundary conditions are available on exterior boundaries:
Pressure (also available for edges in 3D models)

Pressure Head
Hydraulic Head
Mass Flux (also available for edges (3D) and points (2D and 3D))
Inflow Boundary
Symmetry
No Flow (the default boundary condition)
Atmosphere/Gauge
Pervious Layer
Flux Discontinuity
Fracture Flow
The relevant interface condition at interior boundaries is continuity; that is,
n 1 u1 2 u2 = 0
The continuity boundary condition provides continuity for the pressure and mass flux.
In addition, the following boundary conditions are available on interior boundaries:
Pressure (also available for edges in 3D models)

Pressure Head
Hydraulic Head
Pervious Layer
Flux Discontinuity
Fracture Flow
For axisymmetric models, COMSOL Multiphysics takes the axial symmetry

boundaries (at r = 0) into account and automatically adds an Axial Symmetry feature to
the model that is valid on the axial symmetry boundaries only.
Pressure
The Pressure feature makes it possible to specify the pressure on a boundary. In many
cases you know the distribution of pressure giving the Dirichlet condition p = p 0 .
where p0 is a known pressure given as a number, a distribution, or an expression

involving time, t, for example.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to specify the pressure.
PAIR SELECTION
If Pressure is selected from the Pairs menu, select the boundary pair where you want
to define this feature. First an identity pair may have to be created.
PRESSURE
Enter a value or expression for the Pressure p (SI unit: Pa).

Similarly, the Pressure feature provides the pressure P0 as a condition on edges in 3D
models. You then select the edges in the Edges section.
Note: Pressure constraint on edges are available for use with the Fracture Flow
boundary condition, which needs conditions on the edges surrounding the
fracture-flow boundary. In other cases, pressure constraints on edges are not
implemented.
Pressure Head
The Pressure Head feature makes it possible to specify the pressure head (instead of the
pressure) on a boundary. This feature adds the following boundary condition for the
pressure head Hp:
Hp = Hp0
where Hp0 is a known pressure head given as a number, a distribution, or an expression

involving time, t, for example. The dimension of the pressure head is length (default
SI unit: meter)
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to specify the pressure head.
PRESSURE HEAD
Enter a value or expression for the Pressure head Hp0 (SI unit: m).
Hydraulic Head
The Hydraulic Head feature makes it possible to specify the hydraulic head (instead of
the pressure) on a boundary.
This feature adds the following Dirichlet condition for the hydraulic head H = H 0
where H0 is a known hydraulic head given as a number, a distribution, or an expression
involving time, t, for example.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to specify the hydraulic head.
HYDRAULIC HEAD
Enter a value or expression for the Hydraulic head H0 (SI unit: m). The dimension of
the hydraulic head is length.
Mass Flux
Use the Mass Flux feature to specify the mass flux into or out of the model domain
through some of its boundaries. It is often possible to determine the mass flux from
the pumping rate or from measurements. With the Mass Flux boundary condition,
positive values correspond to flow into the model domain

n --- p + g D = N 0

where N0 is a value or expression for the inward (or outward) Darcy flux that you
specify.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply an inward or outward mass flux.
MASS FLUX
Enter a value or expression for the Inward (or outward) mass flux N0 (SI unit: kg/
(m2s)). A positive value of N0 represents an inward mass flux.
The Mass Flux N0 feature is also available as a condition on Edges (3D models) and
Points (2D and 3D models). Enter a value or expression for the Inward (or outward)
mass flux N0 (SI unit edges: kg/(ms); SI unit points: kg/s)). A positive value of N0
represents an inward mass flux.
Inflow Boundary
The Inflow Boundary feature adds a boundary condition for the inflow (or outflow)
perpendicular (normal) to the boundary:

n --- p + g D = U 0

where U0 is a value or expression for the inward (or outward) Darcy velocity that you
specify. A positive value of the velocity U0 corresponds to flow into the model domain;
a negative value represents an outflow.

BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply an inflow or outflow velocity.
INFLOW BOUNDAR Y
Enter a value or expression for the Inward (or outward) velocity U0 (SI unit: m/s). A
positive value of U0 represents an inflow velocity.
Symmetry
The Symmetry feature describes a symmetry boundary. The following symmetry
condition describes symmetry about an axis or a flow divide, for example:

n --- p + g D = 0

BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to specify symmetry.
Note: For axisymmetric models, COMSOL Multiphysics handles the axial symmetry
at r0 automatically and adds an Axial Symmetry feature to the model that is valid on
the axial symmetry boundaries only.
No Flow
The No Flow feature defines the condition that there is no flow across boundaries. Fluid
does not move across impervious boundaries. You represent this effect with the No
Flow boundary condition:

n --- p + g D = 0

where n is the vector normal to the boundary. This is the default boundary condition.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply a no-flow condition.
Atmosphere/Gauge
At a free surface, such as a spring or a seepage face, the pressure is atmospheric. If you
gauge the pressures in the model to the atmospheric value (p0), the total hydraulic
potential reduces to the gravitational potential at the free surfacefor example, the
height of the free surface multiplied by the fluid weight, or f gD. This boundary
condition sets the pressure at the boundary to zero:
p = 0
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply an atmospheric or gauge pressure.
Pervious Layer
The Pervious Layer feature provides a boundary condition that describes a mass flux
through a semi-pervious layer connected to an external fluid source at different
pressure, pressure head, or hydraulic head. The model domain might connect to a
larger body of water through the semi-pervious layer. You can represent this condition
with the following boundary condition:
pb p
n --- p + g D = R b -------------------- + D b D (2-1)
g
In this equation, pb (SI unit: Pa) and Db (SI unit: m) are the pressure and the elevation
of the distant fluid source, respectively, and Rb (SI unit: 1/s) is the conductance of
materials between the source and the model domain (conductance to flow in the
semi-pervious layer adjacent to the boundary). Typically RbK'B', where K' is the
hydraulic conductivity (SI unit: m/s) of the layer and B' (SI unit: m) is its thickness.
Using logical relationships, it is possible to activate these expressions at different times
or under various flow conditions.
When you choose to specify the pressure head Hp instead of the pressure, the
boundary condition is the following:
n K H p + D = R b H pb H p + D b D (2-2)
Hpb is the pressure head (SI unit: m) at the edge of the layer.
When you choose to specify the hydraulic head H instead of the pressure head, the
boundary condition becomes:

n KH = R b H b H (2-3)
Hb is the hydraulic head (SI unit: m) at the edge of the layer.
K in Equation 2-2 and Equation 2-3 is the hydraulic conductivity.
At a free surface, such as a water table or seepage face, the pressure is atmospheric (here
taken to be zero), so the total hydraulic potential equals gravitational potential, which
is defined on D.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply this boundary condition.
PAIR SELECTION
If Pervious Layer is selected from the Pairs menu, select the boundary pair where you
want to define this feature. First an identity pair may have to be created.
PER VIOUS LAYER

Specify the material properties whether to specify an external pressure, pressure head,
or hydraulic head.
Select an External variable to specifyPressure and elevation to specify the external

pressure, Pressure head and elevation to specify the external pressure head, or Hydraulic
head.
If Pressure and elevation is selected, enter an External pressure pb (SI unit: Pa), and
the External elevation Db (SI unit: m).
If Pressure head and elevation is selected, enter an External pressure head Hpb (SI
unit: m), Hpb (SI unit: m) and External elevation Db (SI unit: m).
If Hydraulic head is selected, enter a value for the Hydraulic head Hb (SI unit: m).
For all selections, enter a value for the Conductance Rb (SI unit: 1/s).
Flux Discontinuity
The Flux Discontinuity feature is available on interior boundaries. You can use the Flux
Discontinuity feature to specify a mass flux discontinuity through interior boundaries.
You can represent this condition with the following boundary condition:
n u 1 u 2 = N 0
In this equation, n is the vector normal (perpendicular) to the interior boundary, is
the fluid density, u1 and u2 are the Darcys velocities in the adjacent domains (as
defined in Equation 2-18) and N0 is a value or expression for the flux discontinuity
that you specify. With the Flux Discontinuity boundary condition, a positive value of
N0 corresponds to a flow discontinuity in opposite direction to the normal vector of
the interior boundary.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply the mass flux discontinuity.
PAIR SELECTION
If Flux Discontinuity is selected from the Pairs menu, select the boundary pair where you
MASS FLUX
Enter a value or expression for the Inward mass flux N0 (SI unit: kg/(m2s)). A positive
value of N0 represents a mass flux discontinuity in opposite direction to the normal
vector of the interior boundary.
Fracture Flow
The Fracture Flow feature adds fracture flow on boundaries using tangential derivatives
to define the flow along interior boundaries representing fractures within a porous
medium. It is implemented through the Fracture Flow interface. For more
information see The Fracture Flow Interface.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply the fracture flow.
PAIR SELECTION
If Fracture Flow is selected from the Pairs menu, select the boundary pair where you

The Richards Equation Interface
The Richards Equation interface ( ) has the equations, boundary conditions, and
mass sources for modeling flow in variably saturated porous media using Richards
equation, solving for the pressure.
interface, see Theory for the Richards Equation Interface.
Richards Equation. Richards Equation Material Model (which adds the equation for the
pressure and provides an interface for defining the fluid material and its properties,
including the retention model), No Flow (the default boundary condition), and Initial
Values. Right-click the Richards Equation node to add other features that implement,
for example, boundary conditions and mass sources.
expressions, for example. You can change it to any unique string in the Identifier field.
The default identifier (for the first interface in the model) is dl.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the pressure and the Richards equation
that describes the pressure field. The default setting is to include all domains in the
model.
EQUATION
THE RICHARDS EQUATION INTERFACE | 39

GRAVITY EFFECTS
Gravity effects are active by default. When gravity effect is on, define an elevation D in
the Elevation field (SI unit: m). The default value is y in 2D models and z in 3D and
axisymmetric models. Select Off from the Gravity effects list to set the elevation D equal
to zero.
Under Acceleration of gravity you enter the value for the acceleration of gravity (SI unit:
m/s2). The default value is taken from the constant g_const. See Physical Constants
in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or see Where Do I Access the
DEPENDENT VARIABLES
The dependent variable (field variable) is for the Pressure. You can change the name in
the corresponding edit field, but the names of fields and dependent variables must be
unique within a model.
ADVANCED SETTINGS
Advanced Settings in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or see Where Do I
Access the Documentation and Model Library?).
DISCRETIZATION
Builder. Select Quadratic (the default), Linear, Cubic, or Quartic for the Pressure.
Richards Equation Model

The Richards Equation Model feature adds Equation 2-28 except the source term which
can be included as separate feature.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the pressure and Richards equation.
FLUID PROPERTIES

The default Density (SI unit: kg/m3) uses values From material based on Fluid
default is 0 kg/m3.
The default Dynamic viscosity (SI unit: Pas) uses values From material based on the
Fluid material selected. If User defined is selected, enter another value or expression.
MATRIX PROPERTIES
Permeability Model
flow. Select Permeability to define the permeability of the porous matrix, or Hydraulic
If Permeability s (SI unit: m2) is selected, the default uses values From material as
defined by the Porous material selected. If User defined is selected, choose Isotropic
to define a scalar value or Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic to enter a tensor value.
If Hydraulic conductivity Ks (SI unit: m/s) is selected as the Permeability model, enter
a value or expression select Isotropic to define a scalar value or Diagonal, Symmetric,
or Anisotropic to enter a tensor value.
Saturated Liquid Volume Fraction

The property that defines the pore volume in Richards Equation is the Saturated liquid
volume fraction s. Enter a value, which is a fraction (a dimensionless number between
0 and 1). The default is 0.25.
Residual Liquid Volume Fraction

If there is a residual volume of liquid that cannot move through the pore network, you
can also enter a Residual liquid volume fraction r. Enter a value, which is a fraction (a
dimensionless number between 0 and ). The default is 0.

STORAGE MODEL
Select a Storage S (SI unit: 1/Pa)Linearized storage or User defined. Select Linearized
storage to use the following linear equation to define the storage:
S = s f + 1 s p
This expression is equivalent to the Reuss average of the fluid and solid
compressibilities. Enter the value or expression for each of these properties to define
the linear storage:
- Compressibility of fluid f (SI unit: 1/Pa)
- Effective compressibility of matrix p (SI unit: 1/Pa)
If User defined is selected, enter a Storage S (SI unit: 1/Pa) value or expression.
RETENTION MODEL
Select a Retention modelvan Genuchten, Brooks and Corey, or User defined.
Select van Genuchten to use the retention model according to van Genuchten (see
Equation 2-29). Then enter the values for these Constitutive relation constants. The
constitutive parameter m is equal to 11 n.
- (default is 1, and the SI unit is 1/m).
- n (default is 2)
- l (default is 0.5)
Select Brooks and Corey to use the retention model according to Brooks and Corey
(see Equation 2-30). The same parameters as for the van Genuchten model also
define the Brook and Corey model: , n, and l.
Select User defined to specify a user defined retention model in Equation 2-28,
instead of van Genuchten (Equation 2-29) or Brooks and Corey (Equation 2-30)
models:
- Unsaturated condition un. The default is 0.
- Liquid volume fraction . The default is s (the thetas variable).
- Effective saturation Se. The default is 0.
- Specific moisture capacity Cm (SI unit: 1/m). The default is 0.
- Relative permeability kr. The default is 1.

Mass Source
The Mass Source feature adds a mass source Qm (SI unit: kg/(m3s)), which is identical
to the one for the Fluid and Matrix Properties.
Initial Values
The Initial Values feature adds an initial value for the pressure. This feature is identical
to the feature described for The Darcys Law Interface.
Boundary Conditions for the Richards Equation Interface

The boundary conditions (and settings) for the Richards Equation interface are similar
to the boundary conditions described for The Darcys Law Interface, with the
exception that the domain equation for Richards equation affect some of the
boundary conditions.

boundaries (at r = 0) into account and automatically adds an Axial Symmetry feature to

The Fracture Flow Interface
The Fracture Flow interface ( ) has the equations, edge and point conditions, and
mass sources for modeling fracture flow, solving for the pressure. For a more extensive
introduction to the physics and equations implemented by this interface, see Theory
for the Fracture Flow Interface.
Fluid and Matrix Properties, No Flow (the default boundary condition), and Initial Values.
Right-click the Fracture Flow node to add features including the Storage Model or other
nodes that implement, for example, mass sources and conditions on edges or points.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to define the pressure and the equation that
describes the fracture flow. The default setting is to include all boundaries in the
model.
GRAVITY EFFECTS
Gravity effects are active by default. When gravity effect is on, you can define an
elevation D in the Elevation edit field (SI unit: m). The default value is y in 2D models
and z in 3D and axisymmetric models. Select Off from the Gravity effects list to set the
elevation D equal to zero.
Under Acceleration of gravity you enter the value for the acceleration of gravity (SI unit:
m/s2). The default value is taken from the constant g_const. See Physical Constants
in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or see Where Do I Access the
ADVANCED SETTINGS
DISCRETIZATION
Builder. Select a PressureQuadratic (the default), Linear, Cubic, or Quartic.

DEPENDENT VA RIA BLES
The dependent variable (field variable) is for the Pressure. You can change the name in
the corresponding edit field, but the names of fields and dependent variables must be
unique within a model.

The Fluid and Matrix Properties feature adds Equation 2-2 (excluding any mass sources)
on the selected boundary for the pressure and provides an interface for defining the
fluid material and its properties, including the effective porosity. All the features are the
same as with the Darcys Law interface (see Fluid and Matrix Properties) except the
following.
BOUNDARIES
This is the same as for the Darcys Law interface but applied to boundaries instead of
domains. Select the boundaries where you want to include the pressure and the Darcys
law and continuity equation that define it.
FLUID PROPERTIES
The default Density (SI unit: kg/m3) uses values From material based on Fluid
default is 0 kg/m3.
The default Dynamic viscosity (SI unit: Pas) uses values From material based on the
Fluid material selected. If User defined is selected, enter another value or expression.
MATRIX PROPERTIES
THE FRACTURE FLOW INTERFACE | 45

Permeability Model
flow: Permeability to define the permeability of the fracture, or Hydraulic conductivity,
which is a combination of permeability and the dynamic viscosity of the fluid.
If Permeability f (SI unit: m2) is selected, the default uses values From material as
defined by the Porous material selected. If User defined is selected, choose Isotropic
to define a scalar value or Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic to enter a tensor value.
If Hydraulic conductivity K (SI unit: m/s) is selected as the Permeability model, enter
a value or expression and select Isotropic to define a scalar value or Diagonal,
Symmetric, or Anisotropic to enter a tensor value.
Porosity in Fracture
The default Porosity in fracture f (SI unit: a dimensionless number between 0 and 1)
uses values From material based on the Porous material selected. If User defined is
selected, enter another value or expression. The default is 0.8.
FRACTURE FLOW
Enter a value or expression for the Fracture thickness df (SI unit: m).
Storage Model
The Storage Model feature. This feature adds specific storage model excluding any mass
sources. All the features are the same as with the Fracture Flow interface (see Fluid and
Matrix Properties) except the following.
STORAGE MODEL
Enter a value or expression for the Storage model S (SI unit: 1/Pa) (Sf in
Equation 2-2).
Mass Source
The Mass Source feature adds a mass source Qm, which appears, multiplied with the
fracture thickness, on the right-hand side of Equation 2-2.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to define a mass source.
MASS SOURCE
Enter a value or expression for the Mass source Qm (SI unit: kg/m3s).

Initial Values
The Initial Values feature adds an initial value for the pressure P that can serve as an
initial condition for a transient simulation or as an initial guess for a nonlinear solver.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to define the initial value.
IN IT IA L VA LUES
Select the Pressure (the default) button to enter a value or expression for the initial
value of the pressure p (SI unit: Pa). The default is 0 Pa. Select Pressure head to enter
a value or expression for Hp (SI unit: m). Select Hydraulic head to enter a value or
expression for H (SI unit: m).
Boundary Conditions for the Fracture Flow Interface

The boundary conditions are similar to the Darcys Law interface but are applied to
edges in 3D and points in 2D. These form the geometry boundaries where you
define the Fracture Flow interface. These conditions are available on exterior
boundaries (edges and points):
Pressure
Pressure Head
Hydraulic Head
Mass Flux
Inflow Boundary
Symmetry
No Flow (the default boundary condition)
Atmosphere/Gauge
Pervious Layer
The relevant interface condition at interior edges is continuity. In addition, the

following edge conditions are available on interior edges:
Pressure
Pervious Layer
THE FRACTURE FLOW INTERFACE | 47

The Brinkman Equations Interface
The Brinkman Equations interface ( ) has the equations, boundary conditions, and
volume forces for modeling of fluids in porous media using the Brinkman equations,
solving for the velocity field and the pressure. The main feature is the Fluid and Matrix
Properties feature, which adds the Brinkman equations and provides an interface for
defining the fluid material and the porous matrix.
interface, see the Theory for the Brinkman Equations Interface.
Fluid and Matrix Properties, Wall (the default boundary type, using No slip as the default
boundary condition), and Initial Values.
Right-click the Brinkman Equations node to add other features that implement, for
example, boundary conditions and volume forces.
The default identifier (for the first interface in the model) is br.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the fluid pressure and velocity and the
Brinkman equations that describe those fields. The default setting is to include all
domains in the model.
EQUATION

PHYSICAL MODEL
Control properties of the Brinkman Equations interface, which describe the overall
type of fluid-flow model:
Compressibility
By default the interface uses the Incompressible flow formulation of the Brinkman
equations to model incompressible fluid flow (constant density). Or select
Compressible flow (Ma<0.3) from the Compressibility list if there are small variations in
the density, typically dependent on the temperature (non-isothermal flow). For
compressible flow using the Brinkman Equations interface, the Mach number must be
below 0.3.
Neglect Inertial Term (Stokes-Brinkman Flow)

The Neglect inertial term (Stokes-Brinkman) check box is selected by default to model
flow at very low Reynolds numbers where you can neglect the inertial term in the
Brinkman equations and use the linear Stokes-Brinkman equations instead.
Swirl Flow (2D Axisymmetric Models Only)

Select the Swirl flow check box to include the swirl velocity component, that is velocity
component u in the azimuthal direction. While u can be non-zero, there can be no
gradients in the direction.

The dependent variables (field variables) are for the Velocity field u (SI unit: m/s) and
Pressure p (SI unit: Pa). You can change the name in the corresponding edit field, but
the names of fields and dependent variables must be unique within a model.
CONSISTENT STABILIZATION AND INCONSISTENT STABILIZATION

See Stabilization Techniques in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or see
Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?) for information about
these settings.
ADVANCED SETTINGS
The check box Use pseudo time stepping for stationary equation form adds pseudo time
derivatives to the equation when the Stationary equation form is used. When selected,
a CFL number expression list with the options Automatic or User defined is displayed.
THE BRINKMAN EQUATIONS INTERFACE | 49

The Automatic option calculates the local CFL number from a built-in expression while
User defined makes it possible to manually define the local CFL number. See also
Pseudo Time Stepping.
DISCRETIZATION
Builder. Select a Discretization of fluidsP2+P1 (the default), P1+P1, or P3+P2.

The Fluid and Matrix Properties node adds Equation 2-24 and Equation 2-25
(excluding any mass sources). Also right-click to add a Forchheimer Drag feature.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to use the fluid and porous matrix properties. The
default is to add all domains.
MODEL INPUTS
is empty.
Absolute Pressure
over the modeled domain is probably many orders of magnitude less than atmospheric
pressure, which, if included, reduces the chances for stability and convergence during
the solving process for this variable. In an other case, the absolute pressure may be
required to be solved for, such as where pressure is a part of an expression for gas
volume or diffusion coefficients.

There is also an option to use the pressure variable solved for in the Brinkman
Equations interface, denoted by Pressure (br/fmp1), or a pressure variable defined by
another interface. Selecting a pressure variable also activates a check box for defining
the reference pressure, where 1 [atm] has been automatically included. This allows
you to use a system-based (gauge) pressure, while automatically including the
reference pressure in places where it is required, such as for gas flow governed by the
gas law. While this check box maintains control over the pressure variable and instances
where absolute pressure is required within this respective physics interface, it may not
with interfaces that you are coupling to, such as mass and heat transfer physics
interfaces. You should check the coupling between any interfaces using the same
variable.
FLUID PROPERTIES
Density
material selection. If User defined is selected, enter another value or expression. The
default is 0 kg/m3.
Dynamic Viscosity
The dynamic viscosity describes the relationship between the shear stresses in a fluid
and the shear rate. Intuitively, water and air have a low viscosity, and substances often
described as thick, such as oil, have a higher viscosity. Non-Newtonian fluids have a
viscosity that is shear-rate dependent. Examples of non-Newtonian fluids include
yoghurt, paper pulp, and polymer suspensions.
default is 0 Pas.
PO RO US MATR IX PRO PER TIES

Porosity
From material as defined by the Porous material selection. If User defined is selected,

Permeability
The default Permeability br (SI unit: m2) uses values From material as defined by the
Porous material selection. If User defined is selected, enter another value or expression.
Source Term
Enter a value or expression for an optional mass source or mass sink Source term Qbr
(SI unit: kg/(m3s)). This term accounts for mass deposit and mass creation in
domains, and the interface assumes that the mass exchange occurs at zero velocity.
Forchheimer Drag
Right-click the Fluid and Matrix Properties node to add the Forchheimer Drag feature.
Brinkman equations consider the drag of the fluid on the porous matrix to be
proportional to the flow velocity, in the same fashion as done in Darcys law. You can
add a Forchheimer drag, proportional to the square of the fluid velocity.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the Forchheimer drag. The default is to
add all domains.
FORCHHEIMER DRAG
Enter a value for the Forchheimer coefficient F (SI unit: kg/m4).
Volume Force
The Volume Force feature specifies the force F on the right-hand side of Equation 2-24.
Use it, for example, to incorporate the effects of gravity in your model.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where the volume force acts on the fluid.
VO L U M E F O R C E
Enter the components of the Volume force F (SI unit: N/m3) based on the space
dimension.

Initial Values
The Initial Values feature adds initial values for the velocity field u and the pressure p
that can serve as an initial condition for a transient simulation or as an initial guess for
a nonlinear solver.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define initial values.
IN IT IA L VA LUES
Enter values or expressions for the initial value of the Velocity field u (SI unit: m/s) and
the Pressure p (SI unit: Pa). The default values are 0.
Boundary Conditions for the Brinkman Equations Interface

The Brinkman Equations interfaces boundary conditions are essentially the same as
for the Laminar Flow interface. Differences exist for the following boundary types:
Outlet, Symmetry, Open Boundary, and Boundary Stress. In all four cases, the viscous
part of the stress is divided by the porosity to appear as
1
--- u + u T 2
--- u I
3
Also see Pressure Point Constraint in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or see
Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?).

The Free and Porous Media Flow
Interface
The Free and Porous Media Flow interface ( ) is a combination of the functionality in
the Laminar Flow interface and the Brinkman Equations interface. It provides the
equations, boundary conditions, and volume forces for modeling fluid flow in systems
with both free and porous media flow. For a more extensive introduction to the physics
and equations implemented by this interface, see the Theory for the Free and Porous
Media Flow Interface
When you add this interface, these default nodes are also added to the Model Builder:
Fluid Properties, Wall, and Initial Values. Right-click the Free and Porous Media Flow node
to add a Porous Matrix Properties node to be used on the domain selection which
corresponds to the porous media as well as features that implement, for example,
boundary conditions and volume forces.
The default identifier (for the first interface in the model) is fp.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the fluid pressure and velocity. The
default setting is to include all domains in the model.
EQUATION
NodesEquation Section in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or see Where
Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?) for more information.

PHYSICAL MODEL
Compressibility
By default the Free and Porous Media Flow interface uses the Incompressible flow
formulation of Navier-Stokes and Brinkman equations. From the Compressibility list,
select Incompressible flow to model incompressible fluid flow (constant density), or
select Compressible flow (Ma<0.3) if there are small variations in the density, typically
dependent on the temperature (non-isothermal flow). For compressible flow using the
Free and Porous Media Flow interface, the Mach number must be below 0.3.
Neglect Inertial Term

Select the Neglect inertial term in free flow (Stokes flow) check box if the inertial forces
are small compared to the viscous forces. This is typical for creeping flow, where
Re 1 .
Select the Neglect inertial term in porous media flow (Stokes-Brinkman) check box to
model flow at very low Reynolds numbers in the porous media, where you can neglect
the inertial term in the Brinkman equations and use the linear Stokes-Brinkman
equations instead.
Swirl Flow (2D Axisymmetric Models Only)

Select the Swirl flow check box to include the swirl velocity component, that is velocity
component u in the azimuthal direction. While u can be non-zero, there can be no
gradients in the direction.

The dependent variables (field variables) are for the Velocity field u (SI unit: m/s) and
Pressure p (SI unit: Pa). You can change the names in the corresponding edit fields,
but the names of fields and dependent variables must be unique within a model.
CONSISTENT STABILIZATION
Builder. See Stabilization Techniques in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or
see Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?) for information about
these settings.
INCONSISTENT STABILIZATION
Builder. See Stabilization Techniques in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or
see Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?) for information about
these settings.
THE FREE AND POROUS MEDIA FLOW INTERFACE | 55

ADVANCED SETTINGS
The check box Use pseudo time stepping for stationary equation form adds pseudo time
derivatives to the equation when the Stationary equation form is used. When selected,
a CFL number expression list has these options Automatic or User defined.
The Automatic option calculates the local CFL number from a built-in expression while
User defined makes it possible to manually define the local CFL number.
DISCRETIZATION
Builder. Select a Discretization of fluidsP1+P1 (the default), P2+P1, or P3+P2.
Fluid Properties
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to apply the fluid properties defined in the Fluid
Properties feature.
MODEL INPUTS
is empty.
Absolute Pressure
over the modeled domain is probably be many orders of magnitude less than
atmospheric pressure, which, if included, reduces the chances for stability and
convergence during the solving process for this variable. In an other case, the absolute

pressure may be required to be solved for, such as where pressure is a part of an
expression for gas volume or diffusion coefficients.
There is also an option to use the pressure variable solved for in the Free and Porous
Media Flow interface, denoted by Pressure (fp/fp1), or a pressure variable defined by
another interface. Selecting a pressure variable also activates a check box for defining
the reference pressure, where 1 [atm] has been automatically included. This allows
you to use a system-based (gauge) pressure, while automatically including the
reference pressure in places where it is required, such as for gas flow governed by the
gas law. While this check box maintains control over the pressure variable and instances
where absolute pressure is required within this respective physics interface, it may not
with interfaces that you are coupling to, such as mass and heat transfer physics
interfaces. You should check the coupling between any interfaces using the same
variable.
FLUID PROPERTIES
default is 0 kg/m3.
default is 0 Pas.
Porous Matrix Properties

Use the Porous Matrix Properties feature to define which domains contains porous
material and the porous matrix properties, such as the porosity and permeability in
these domains. Right-click to add a Forchheimer Drag feature.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to solve for porous media flow governed by the
Brinkman equations. In the domains not selected, the Free and Porous Media Flow
interface solves for laminar flow governed by the Navier-Stokes equations.

POROUS MATRIX PROPER TIES
Porosity
From material as defined by the Porous material selection. If User defined is selected,
Permeability
The default Permeability br (SI unit: m2) uses values From material as defined by the
Porous material selection. If User defined is selected, enter another value or expression.
Source Term
Enter a value or expression for an optional mass source or mass sink Source term Qbr
(SI unit: kg/(m3s)). This term accounts for mass deposit and mass creation in
domains, and the interface assumes that the mass exchange occurs at zero velocity.
Forchheimer Drag
Right-click the Porous Matrix Properties node to add a Forchheimer Drag node to be
used on the domain selection which corresponds to the porous media. Brinkman
equations consider the drag of the fluid on the porous matrix to be proportional to the
flow velocity, in the same fashion as done in Darcys law. You can add a Forchheimer
drag, proportional to the square of the fluid velocity.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the Forchheimer drag. The default is to
add all domains.
FORCHHEIMER DRAG
Enter a value for the Forchheimer coefficient F (SI unit: kg/m4).
Volume Force
The Volume Force node specifies the force F on the right-hand side of Navier-Stokes or
Brinkman equations, depending on the domains where the Porous Matrix Properties
node is active. Use it, for example, to incorporate the effects of gravity in your model.

DOMAINS
Select the domains where the volume force acts on the fluid.
VO L U M E F O R C E
In the Volume force edit fields you enter the components of the volume force F
(SI unit: N/m3).
Initial Values
The Initial Values feature adds initial values for the velocity field u and the pressure p
that can serve as an initial condition for a transient simulation or as an initial guess for
a nonlinear solver.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define initial values.
IN IT IA L VA LUES
Enter values or expressions for the initial value of the velocity field u (SI unit: m/s) in
the Velocity field edit fields and for the pressure p (SI unit: Pa) in the Pressure edit field.
The default values are 0.
Symmetry
The Symmetry feature provides a boundary condition for symmetry boundaries.
BOUNDARIES
Define the symmetry boundaries as required.
Boundary Conditions for the Free and Porous Media Flow Interface
The boundary conditions for the Free and Porous Media Flow interface are the same as
for The Single-Phase Flow, Laminar Flow Interface and The Brinkman Equations
Interface.

Theory for the Fluid Flow
Single-Phase Interfaces
The single-phase fluid-flow interfaces are based on the Navier-Stokes equations, which
in their most general form read
-
----- + u = 0 (2-4)
t
u
------- + u u = pI + + F (2-5)
t
T T p
C p ------- + u T = q + :S ---- ------- ------ + u p + Q (2-6)
t T p t
where
is the density (SI unit: kg/m3)

u is the velocity vector (SI unit: m/s)
p is pressure (SI unit: Pa)
is the viscous stress tensor (SI unit: Pa)
F is the volume force vector (SI unit: N/m3)
Cp is the specific heat capacity at constant pressure (SI unit: J/(kgK))
T is the absolute temperature (SI unit: K)
q is the heat flux vector (SI unit: W/m2)
Q contains the heat sources (SI unit: W/m3)
S is the strain-rate tensor:
1
S = --- u + u T
2
The operation : denotes a contraction between tensors defined by
a:b = anm bnm

n m

Equation 2-4 is the continuity equation and represents the conservation of mass.
Equation 2-5 is a vector equation and represents the conservation of momentum.
Equation 2-6 describes the conservation of energy, formulated in terms of
temperature. This is an intuitive formulation that facilities specification of boundary
conditions.
To close the equation system Equation 2-4 through Equation 2-6, some constitutive
relations are needed. A common relation is derived by assuming that the fluid is
Newtonian. Together with Stokes assumption, the viscous stress tensor becomes:
2
= 2S --- u I (2-7)
3
The dynamic viscosity (SI unit: Pas) is allowed to depend on the thermodynamic
state but not on the velocity field. All gases and many liquids can be considered
Newtonian. Examples of non-Newtonian fluids are honey, mud, blood, liquid metals,
and most polymer solutions.
Other commonly used constitutive relations are Fouriers law of heat conduction and
the ideal gas law.
There are several books where you find derivations of the Navier-Stokes equations and
detailed explanations of concepts such as Newtonian fluids and the Stokes assumption.
See, for example, the classical text by Batchelor (Ref. 1) and the more recent work by
Panton (Ref. 2).
Many applications describe isothermal flows where Equation 2-6 is decoupled from
Equation 2-4 and Equation 2-5.
THEORY FOR THE FLUID FLOW SINGLE-PHASE INTERFACES | 61

Theory for the Laminar Flow
Interface
In theory, the same equations describe laminar as well as turbulent flows. In practice,
however, the mesh resolution required to simulate turbulence with the Laminar Flow
interface makes such an approach impractical.
Compressible Flow
The Navier-Stokes equations solved by default in all single-phase flow interfaces are the
compressible formulation of the continuity:
-
----- + u = 0 (2-8)
t
and the momentum equations:
u
------- + u u = p + u + u T --- u I + F
2
(2-9)
t 3
These equations holds for incompressible as well as compressible flows where the
density varies.
The Mach Number Limit

An important dimensionless number in fluid dynamics is the Mach number, Ma,
defined by
u
Ma = -------
a
where a is the speed of sound. A flow is formally incompressible when Ma0. This is
theoretically achieved by letting the speed of sound tend to infinity. The Navier-Stokes
equations then have the numerical property that a disturbance anywhere in the
computational domain is instantaneously spread to the entire domain. This results in a
parabolic equation system.
The fully compressible Navier-Stokes equations, Equation 2-4 through Equation 2-6,
have a finite speed of sound and hence a Mach number larger than zero. This has no

numerical significance as long as the Mach number is well below one. However, when
the Mach number approaches unity, the equations turn from parabolic to hyperbolic.
When this happens, the numerical properties of the equation change, one of several
implications being that the boundary conditions used for incompressible
Navier-Stokes equations become invalid. The compressible formulation of the laminar
and turbulent interfaces uses the same boundary conditions as the incompressible
interfaces, which implies that the compressible interfaces cannot be used for flows with
Mach number larger than or equal to one.
The practical Mach number limit is lower than one, however. The first reason for this
is that the sound wave transport term that has been neglected in the heat equation.
This term becomes important already at moderate Mach numbers. The second reason
is that already at moderate Mach number, the fully compressible Navier-Stokes
equations start to display very sharp gradients. To handle these gradient, special
numerical techniques are needed. It is impossible to give an exact limit where the low
Mach number regime ends and the moderate Mach number regime begins, but a rule
of thumb is that the Mach number effects start to appear at Ma 0.3. For this reason
the compressible formulation is referred to as Compressible flow (Ma<0.3) in the
COMSOL GUI.
Incompressible Flow
When the temperature variations in a flow are small, a single-phase fluid can often be
assumed incompressible; that is, is constant or nearly constant. This is the case for all
fluids under normal conditions and also for gases at low velocities. For constant ,
Equation 2-8 reduces to
u = 0 (2-10)
and Equation 2-9 becomes
u T
+ u u = pI + u + u + F (2-11)
t
The Reynolds Number

Fundamental to the analysis of fluid flow is the Reynolds number:
UL
Re = ------------

THEORY FOR THE LAMINAR FLOW INTERFACE | 63

where U denotes a velocity scale, and L denotes a representative length. The Reynolds
number represents the ratio between inertial and viscous forces. At low Reynolds
numbers, viscous forces dominate and tend to damp out all disturbances, which leads
to laminar flow. At high Reynolds numbers, the damping in the system is very low
giving small disturbances the possibility to grow by nonlinear interactions. If the
Reynolds number is high enough, the fluid flow field eventually ends up in a chaotic
state called turbulence. The Navier-Stokes interface automatically calculates the local
cell Reynolds number Recuh2 using the element length h for L and the
magnitude of the velocity vector u for the velocity scale U. The cell Reynolds number
is a predefined quantity available for visualization and evaluation.
Numerical StabilityStabilization Techniques

The momentum equations (Equation 2-9 and Equation 2-11) are (nonlinear)
convection-diffusion equations. As described in Stabilization Techniques in the
COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Guide such equations are unstable if discretized
using the Galerkin finite element method. Stabilized finite element methods are
therefore necessary in order to obtain physical solutions. You find the stabilization
settings in the main fluid-flow features. Also see Where Do I Access the
Documentation and Model Library?.
There are three types of stabilization methods available for Navier-Stokes. Two of
them are consistent stabilization methods:
Streamline diffusion (GLS)

Crosswind diffusion
There is also an inconsistent stabilization method: Isotropic diffusion
For optimal functionality, the exact weak formulations and constants of GLS and
crosswind diffusion depend on the order of the basis functions (elements). The values
of constants of GLS and crosswind diffusion follow Ref. 4 and Ref. 5.
Streamline Diffusion
For strongly coupled systems of equations, the streamline diffusion must be applied to
the whole system of equations, not only to each equation separately. These ideas were
first explored by Hughes and Mallet (Ref. 6) and were later extended to Galerkin
least-squares (GLS) applied to the Navier-Stokes equations (Ref. 7), which is the form
that COMSOL Multiphysics supports. The time-scale tensor is the diagonal tensor
presented in Ref. 8.

Streamline diffusion is active per default because it is necessary when convection is the
dominating part of the flow.
The unstabilized incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are subject the

Babuska-Brezzi condition, which states that the basis functions for the pressure must
be of lower order than the basis functions for the velocity. If the incompressible
Navier-Stokes equations are stabilized by GLS, it is possible to use equal-order
interpolation. Hence, streamline diffusion is necessary when using first order elements.
This applies also if the model is solved using geometric multigrid (either as a solver or
as a preconditioner) and at least one multigrid hierarchy level uses linear Lagrange
elements.
CROSSWIND DIFFUSION
Crosswind diffusion can also be formulated for systems of equations, and when applied
to the Navier-Stokes equations it becomes a shock-capturing operator. COMSOL
supports the formulation in Ref. 7 with shock capturing viscosity taken from Ref. 9.
Incompressible flows do not contain shock waves, but crosswind diffusion is still useful
for introducing extra diffusion in sharp boundary layers and shear layers that otherwise
would require a very dense mesh to resolve.
The tuning parameter, Ck, controls the amount of crosswind diffusion introduced in
the model. The recommended range for low Mach number flows and incompressible
flows is 0Ck 0.5 (Ck 0 means no diffusion at all). The value must be neither
space dependent nor time dependent.
Crosswind diffusion is active per default because it makes it easier to obtain a solution
even if the mesh is not perfect.
Crosswind diffusion also has the effect that iterative solvers can use inexpensive
presmoothers such as SSOR. If you deactivate crosswind diffusion, you must also
change all applications of SSOR to Vanka (see Preconditioners for the Iterative Solvers
in the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Guide or Where Do I Access the
ISOTROPIC DIFFUSION
Isotropic diffusion adds diffusion to the momentum equations of the Navier-Stokes
equations in the same way as described in Isotropic Diffusion in the COMSOL
Multiphysics Reference Guide. The continuity equation gains no extra stability.

Pseudo Time Stepping
A stationary formulation has per definition no time derivatives. Hence, Equation 2-11
reduces to:
T
u u = pI + u + u + F (2-12)
Solving Equation 2-12 requires a starting guess that is close enough to the final
solution. If no such guess is at hand, the fully transient problem can be solved instead.
This is, however, a rather costly approach in terms of computational time. An
intermediate approach is to add a fictive time derivative to Equation 2-12:
u nojac u T
--------------------------------- + u u = pI + u + u + F
t
where t is a pseudo time step. Since unojacu is always zero, this term does not
affect the final solution. It does however affect the discrete equation system and
effectively transforms a nonlinear iteration into a time step of size t .
The pseudo time step t can be chosen individually for each element based on the
local CFL number:
h
t = CFL loc -------
u
where h is the mesh cell size. A small CFL number means a small time step. It is hence
practical to start with a small CFL number and gradually increase it as the solution
approaches steady state. If the automatic expression for CFLloc is
1.3 min niterCMP 9 +

if niterCMP 20 9 1.3 min niterCMP 20 9 0 + (2-13)
if niterCMP 40 90 1.3 min niterCMP 40 9 0
The variable niterCMP is the non-linear iteration number and is equal to one for the
first non-linear iteration. CFLloc starts at 1.3 and increases with 30% each iteration
until it reaches 1.3 9 10.6 . It remains there until iteration 20 where it starts to
increase unit it reaches approximately 106. A final increase then takes it to 1060.
The continuity equation has a time derivative only in the incompressible case and it can
then be written as
- -----
p-
-----
p t

A pseudo time derivative can hence be written as
- ------------------------------
p nojac p -
-----
p t
For incompressible flow, the following approximation is used:
- -----------------
0.1 -
-----
p 1 atm
while for compressible flows
- 0.1
------ if ----- = 0 ------------------ ------
p p 1 atm p
Equation 2-13 can for some advanced flows increase CFLloc too slow or too quickly.
CFLloc can then be prescribed manually.
Pseudo time stepping is not active per default.
The Projection Method for the Navier-Stokes Equations

A well-known approach to solve the Navier-Stokes equations is the pressure-correction
method. This type of method is a so-called segregated method, and it generally
requires far less memory than the COMSOL Multiphysics default formulation. Several
variants of the original version have been developed (see Ref. 13, for example).
COMSOL Multiphysics uses incremental pressure-correction schemes.
This formulation is only available for time-dependent problems and requires the time
discrete solver. It is available for the Laminar Flow interface.
This method needs to reformulate the Navier-Stokes equations so that it is possible to

solve for one variable at a time in sequence. Let u and p be the velocity and pressure
variables and uc and pc the corrected velocity and pressure variables, respectively. The
pressure-correction algorithm solves the Navier-Stokes equations using the following
steps:
1 Solve in sequence for all u components following equation:

u
= p + u
n n+1 n n+1 n+1 T 2 n+1
------- + u c u + u --- u I + F
t 3
u
where the superscript index stands for the time-step index, and ------- is discretized
t
using a BDF method up to the second order where u values from previous time
steps are replaced by uc values. At the first order it is discretized it reads:
n+1 n
u u
---------------------------c
timestep
2 Solve Poissons equation to adjust the pressure:
n n+1
timestep p n + 1 p = ------ u (2-14)
t
3 Update the corrected velocity:
n+1 n+1 timestep

uc = u --------------------- p n + 1 p n

2 n+1
Note: For incompressible flows, the --- u I term in Equation 2-13 and ------
3 t
term in Equation 2-14 are suppressed.
Due to this specific discretization, this algorithm is only available with the time discrete
solver.
Because velocity components and pressure are solved in a segregated way, boundary
conditions might have a different implementation or might not be available with the
projection method. In this case, this is mentioned in the documentation for each
boundary condition.
When the projection method is used for turbulent flows or multiphysics couplings, the
same algorithm is used for the velocity and pressure variables. Extra steps are needed
to solve the other variables. By default the equation form used for these variables is the
time-dependent form, and the time derivative is automatically discretized using a
second-order BDF method.
The Boussinesq Approximation

The Boussinesq approximation is a way to treat some simple cases of buoyant flows
without having to use a compressible formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations.

The Boussinesq approximation assumes that variations in density have no effect on the
flow field except that they give rise to buoyant forces. The density is taken to be a
reference value, 0, except in the body force term, which is set to
F = 0 + g (2-15)
where g is the gravity vector. You can enter an expression for Equation 2-15 in the
Volume force edit fields in the Volume Force feature; however, further simplifications
are often possible. Because g can be written in terms of a potential, , it is possible to
write Equation 2-15 as:
F = 0 + g
The first part can be canceled out by splitting the true pressure, p, as a sum of a
hydrodynamic component, P, and a hydrostatic component, 0. Then you can write
Equation 2-10 and Equation 2-11 in terms of the hydrodynamic pressure
Pp0:
u = 0 (2-16)
u
0 ------- + 0 u u = P + u + u T + g (2-17)
t
To obtain the Boussinesq approximation on this form, you only have to enter the
expression for g in the Volume force edit fields.
In practice, the shift from p to P can be ignored except where the pressure appears in
boundary conditions. The pressure that you specify at boundaries is the hydrodynamic
pressure in this case. For example, on a vertical outflow or inflow boundary, the
hydrodynamic pressure is typically a constant, while the true pressure is a function of
the vertical coordinate.
The system that Equation 2-16 and Equation 2-17 form has its limitations. The main
assumption is that the density fluctuations must be small; that is, 01. There are
also some more subtle constraints that, for example, makes the Boussinesq
approximation unsuitable for systems of very large dimensions. An excellent discussion
of the Boussinesq approximation and its limitations appears in Chapter 14 of Ref. 10.
Laminar Inflow Condition

In order to prescribe an inlet velocity profile, this boundary condition adds a weak
form contribution corresponding to a one-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations

projected on the boundary. The applied condition corresponds to the situation shown
in Figure 2-2: a fictitious domain of length Lentr is assumed to be attached to the inlet
of the computational domain. This boundary condition uses the assumption that flow
in this fictitious domain is a laminar plug flow. If you select the option that constrains
outer edges or endpoints to zero, the assumption is instead that the flow in the
fictitious domain is fully developed laminar channel flow (in 2D) or fully developed
laminar internal flow (in 3D). This does not affect the boundary condition in the real
domain, , where the boundary conditions are always fulfilled.
pentr
Lentr
Figure 2-2: Sketch of the physical situation simulated when using the Laminar inflow
boundary condition. is the actual computational domain while the dashed domain is a
fictitious domain.
If you specify an average inlet velocity or inlet volume flow instead of the pressure,
COMSOL Multiphysics adds an ODE that calculates a pressure, pentr, such that the
desired inlet velocity or volume flow is obtained.
Laminar Outflow Condition

In order to prescribe an outlet velocity profile, this boundary conditions adds a weak
form contribution corresponding to a one-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations
projected on the boundary. The applied condition corresponds to the situation shown
in Figure 2-3: assume that a fictitious domain of length Lexit is attached to the outlet
of the computational domain. This boundary condition uses the assumption that the
flow in this fictitious domain is laminar plug flow. If you select the option that
constrains outer edges or endpoints to zero, the assumption is instead that the flow in
the fictitious domain is fully developed laminar channel flow (in 2D) or fully developed

laminar internal flow (in 3D). This does not affect the boundary condition in the real
domain, , where the boundary conditions are always fulfilled.
pexit
Lexit
Figure 2-3: Sketch of the physical situation simulated when using Laminar outflow
boundary condition. is the actual computational domain while the dashed domain is a
fictitious domain.
If you specify an average outlet velocity or outlet volume flow instead of the pressure,
the software adds an ODE that calculates pexit such that the desired outlet velocity or
volume flow is obtained.
REFERENCES FOR THE SINGLE-PHASE FLOW INTERFACES

1. G.K. Batchelor, An Introduction To Fluid Dynamics, Cambridge University Press,
1967.
2. R.L. Panton, Incompressible Flow, 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
3. P.M. Gresho and R.L. Sani, Incompressible Flow and the Finite Element Method,
Volume 2: Isothermal Laminar Flow, John Wiley & Sons, 2000.
4. I. Harari and T.J.R. Hughes, What are C and h? Inequalities for the Analysis and
Design of Finite Element Methods, Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech. Engrg, vol. 97, pp.
157192, 1992.
5. Y. Bazilevs, V.M. Calo, T.E. Tezduyar, and T.J.R. Hughes, YZ Discontinuity

Capturing for Advection-dominated Processes with Application to Arterial Drug
Delivery, Int.J.Num. Meth. Fluids, vol. 54, pp. 593608, 2007.
6. T.J.R. Hughes and M. Mallet, A New Finite Element Formulation for

Computational Fluid Dynamics: III. The Generalized Streamline Operator for
Multidimensional Advective-Diffusive System, Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech. Engrg, vol.
58, pp. 305328, 1986.
7. G. Hauke and T.J.R. Hughes, A Unified Approach to Compressible and

Incompressible Flows, Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech. Engrg, vol. 113, pp. 389395,
1994.

8. G. Hauke, Simple Stabilizing Matrices for the Computation of Compressible Flows
in Primitive Variables, Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech. Engrg, vol. 190, pp. 68816893,
2001.
9. A. Soulamani and M. Fortin, Finite Element Solution of Compressible Viscous

Flows Using Conservative Variables, Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech. Engrg, vol. 118, pp.
319350, 2001.
10. D.J. Tritton, Physical Fluid Dynamics, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 1988.
11. J.M. Coulson and J.F. Richardson, Particle Technology and Separation
Processes, Chemical Engineering, Volume 2, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002.
12. P.M. Gresho and R.L. Sani, Incompressible Flow and the Finite Element Method,
Volume 2: Isothermal Laminar Flow, John Wiley & Sons, 2000.
13. J.L. Guermond, P. Minev, and J. Shen, An overview of projection methods for
incompressible flows, Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech. Engrg, vol. 195, pp. 60116045,
2006.

Theory for the Darcys Law Interface
In a porous medium, the global transport of momentum by shear stresses in the fluid
is often negligible, because the pore walls impede momentum transport to the fluid
outside the individual pores. A detailed description, down to the resolution of every
pore, is not practical in most applications. A homogenization of the porous and fluid
media into a single medium is a common alternative approach. Darcys law together
with the continuity equation and equation of state for the pore fluid (or gas) provide
a complete mathematical model suitable for a wide variety of applications involving
porous media flows, for which the pressure gradient is the major driving force.
Darcys law describes fluid movement through interstices in a porous medium.

Because the fluid loses considerable energy to frictional resistance within pores, flow
velocities in porous media are very low. The Darcys Law interface in the Earth Science
Module applies to water moving in an aquifer or stream bank, oil migrating to a well,
and even magma rising through the earth to a chamber in a volcano (see Ref. 1, Ref.
2, Ref. 3, and Ref. 4). You can also set up multiple Darcys Law interfaces to model
multiphase flows involving more than one mobile phase.
Darcys law describes flow in porous media driven by gradients in the hydraulic
potential field, which has units of pressure. For many applications it is convenient to
represent the total hydraulic potential or the pressure and the gravitational
components with equivalent heights of fluid or head. Division of potential by the fluid
weight can simplify modeling because units of length make it straightforward to
compare to many physical data. Consider, for example, fluid levels in wells, stream
heights, topography, and velocities. The interface also supports specifying boundary
conditions and result evaluation using hydraulic head and pressure head. In the
interface, pressure is always the dependent variable.
Darcys LawEquation Formulation

Darcys law applies when the gradient in hydraulic potential drives fluid movement in
the porous medium. You can visualize the hydraulic potential field by considering the
difference in both pressure and elevation potential from the start to the end points of
the flow line. According to Darcys law, the net flux across a face of porous surface is

u = --- p + g D (2-18)

T H E O R Y F O R T H E D A R C Y S L A W I N T E R F A C E | 73
In this equation, u is the Darcy velocity or specific discharge vector (SI unit: m/s);
is the permeability of the porous medium (SI unit: m2); is the fluids dynamic
viscosity (SI unit: Pas); p is the fluids pressure (SI unit: Pa) and is its density (SI
unit: kg/m3); g is the magnitude of gravitational acceleration (SI unit: m/s2); and
D is a unit vector in the direction over which the gravity acts. Here the permeability,
, represents the resistance to flow over a representative volume consisting of many
solid grains and pores.
Note: Turning off gravity effects sets the elevation D to zero.
Models can define the capacity to transmit flow using the permeability of the porous
medium, , and the viscosity of the fluid, , or using the hydraulic conductivity, K (SI
unit: m/s).
--- = -------
K
g
The hydraulic conductivity represents both fluid and solid properties. If you define the
model using the hydraulic conductivity, Equation 2-18 changes to
K
u = ------ p + g D (2-19)
g
Note: The hydraulic conductivity combines properties of both the fluid and porous
matrix, while the permeability is a property of the porous matrix only.
The hydraulic potential in the equation comes from the pressure, p, and gravity, gD.
COMSOL Multiphysics solves for the pressure, p. By default, g is the predefined
acceleration of gravity (a physical constant), and D is the vertical coordinate. The
choice of D has a significant impact on results and the physics involved. For example,
if D is the vertical coordinate z and if the flow is entirely horizontal within the xy-plane,
then the gradient in D vanishes and the driving force is caused by pressure gradients
alone.
The Darcys Law interface combines Darcys law with the continuity equation
+ u
= Qm (2-20)
t

In the above equation, is the fluid density (SI unit: kg/m3), is the porosity, and Qm
is a mass source term (kg/(m3s)). Porosity is defined as the fraction of the control
volume that is occupied by pores.
Inserting Darcys law (Equation 2-18) into the continuity equation produces the
generalized governing equation
+ --- p + g D = Q (2-21)
t m
You can represent this equation fully in COMSOL Multiphysics because you can freely
specify relationships between density or permeability, for example, and pressure,
temperature, concentration, and so on.
Expand the time-derivative term in Equation 2-21
= ------ + -----
t t t
You can define the porosity and the density as functions of the pressure, and apply the
chain rule
p p
------ + ----- = ------ ------ + ------ ------
t t p t p t
Insert the definition of fluid compressibility fp to the right hand-side and

rearrange to arrive at
-------------
- p p
= f + ------ ------ = S ------
t p t t
Using this relation, the generalized governing equation (Equation 2-21) takes the
following form:
p
S ------ + --- p + g D = Q m (2-22)
t
In this equation, S is a storage coefficient (SI unit: 1/Pa), which can be interpreted as
a weighted compressibility of the bulk aquifer material and the fluid in the pores. S can
be an expression involving results from a solid-deformation equation or temperatures
and concentrations from other analyses. The Earth Science Module explicitly includes
an option to define S as the linearized storage (SI unit: 1/Pa) using the
compressibility of fluids and solids. The Darcys Law interface implements
Equation 2-22 using the Storage Material Model feature.
T H E O R Y F O R T H E D A R C Y S L A W I N T E R F A C E | 75
Hydraulic Head, Pressure Head, and Elevation Head
Hydraulic head, H, pressure head, Hp, and elevation head, D, relate to pressure p as
p
H p = ------ ; H = Hp + D (2-23)
g
where is the fluid density, g denotes the acceleration of gravity, and D is the direction
over which g acts. When defined as vertical elevation, the horizontal gradients in D
equal zero and vertical gradients in D equal one. You can choose to specify pressure,
hydraulic head, or pressure head on the boundaries of a model, either directly or as part
of the pervious layer boundary condition. You can also use pressure, hydraulic head,
and pressure head during postprocessing.
Note: Turning off gravity effects sets the elevation D to zero, and the hydraulic head
then equals the pressure head.
Average Linear Velocity

Because fluids typically occupy only 10% to 50% of a porous medium, it follows that
velocities within the pore channels exceed the Darcy velocity, u, on the order of two
to ten times. For clarity, the interface includes the average linear velocity within a given
pore space, u, (also termed the seepage velocity) defined as uu, where is the
porosity.
R E F E RE N C E S F O R T H E D A RC Y S L AW I N T E R F A C E
1. J. Bear, Hydraulics of Groundwater, McGraw-Hill, 1979.
2. S.E. Ingebritsen and W.E. Sanford, Groundwater in Geologic Processes, Cambridge

University Press, 1998.
3. N.H. Sleep and K. Fujita, Principles of Geophysics, Blackwell Science Inc., 1997.
4. D.L. Turcotte and G. Schubert, Geodynamics, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Theory for the Brinkman Equations
Interface
The Brinkman equations describe fast-moving fluids in porous media with the kinetic
potential from fluid velocity, pressure, and gravity to drive the flow. These equations
extend Darcys law to describe the dissipation of the kinetic energy by viscous shear as
with the Navier-Stokes equations. Consequently, this physics interface well suits
transitions between slow flow in porous media governed by Darcys law and fast flow
in channels described by the Navier-Stokes equations. Interesting uses of a Brinkman
and Navier-Stokes coupling include modeling of the hyporheic zone near a river, the
flow of oil through a reservoir to a well perforation, and non-Newtonian flows.
In porous domains, the flow variables and fluid properties are defined at any point
inside the medium by means of averaging of the actual variables and properties over a
certain volume surrounding the point. This control volume must be small compared
to the typical macroscopic dimensions of the problem, but it must be large enough to
contain many pores and solid matrix elements.
Porosity is defined as the fraction of the control volume that is occupied by pores.
Thus, porosity can vary from zero for pure solid regions to unity for domains of free
flow.
The physical properties of the fluid, such as density, viscosity, and pressure, are defined
as intrinsic volume averages that correspond to a unit volume of pores. Defined this
way, they present the relevant physical parameters that can be measured experimentally,
and they are assumed to be continuous with the corresponding parameters in the
adjacent free flow.
The flow velocities are defined as superficial volume averages, and they correspond
to a unit volume of the medium including both pores and matrix. They are sometimes
called Darcy velocities, defined as volume flow rates per unit cross section of the
medium. Such a definition makes the velocity field continuous across the boundaries
between porous regions and regions of free flow.
Brinkman Equations
The dependent variables in the Brinkman equations are the directional velocities and
pressure. The flow in porous media is governed by a combination of the continuity
THEORY FOR THE BRINKMAN EQUATIONS INTERFACE | 77

equation and momentum balance equation, which together form the Brinkman
equations:

+ u = Q (2-24)
t p
- u
+ u ----- =
u
----
p t p
(2-25)
1
p + ----- u + u --- u I --- + Q u + F
T 2
p 3

In these equations, denotes the dynamic viscosity of the fluid (SI unit: kg/(ms)), u
is the velocity vector (SI unit: m/s), is the density of the fluid (SI unit: kg/m3), p is
the pressure (SI unit: Pa), p is the porosity, is the permeability of the porous medium
(SI unit: m2), and Q is a mass source or mass sink (SI unit: kg/(m3s)). Influence of
gravity and other volume forces can be accounted for via the force term F (SI unit: kg/
(m2s2)).
When you select the Neglect inertial term (Stokes-Brinkman) check box, you disable
the term uup on the left-hand side of Equation 2-25.
The mass source, Q, accounts for mass deposit and mass creation in domains, and the
mass exchange is assumed to occur at zero velocity.
The Forchheimer drag option adds a viscous force proportional to the square of the
fluid velocity, FFFuu, to the right-hand side of Equation 2-25. The
Forchheimer term F has SI units of kg/m4.
In case of a flow with variable density, Equation 2-24 and Equation 2-25 must be
solved together with the equation of state that expresses the density as a function of
the temperature and pressure (for instance the ideal gas law).
For incompressible flow, the density stays constant in any fluid particle, which can be
expressed as
+ u = 0
t
Equation 2-24 together with the above condition simplifies into the following form of
the continuity equation
u = Q

REFERENCES FOR THE BRINKMAN EQUATIONS INTERFACE
1. D. Nield and A. Bejan, Convection in Porous Media, 3rd ed., Springer, 2006.
2. M. Le Bars and M.G. Worster, Interfacial conditions between a pure fluid and a
porous medium: implications for binary alloy solidification, Journal of Fluid
Mechanics, vol. 550, pp. 149173, 2006.
THEORY FOR THE BRINKMAN EQUATIONS INTERFACE | 79

Theory for the Free and Porous
Media Flow Interface
The Free and Porous Media Flow interface uses the Navier-Stokes equations for
describing the flow in open regions, and the Brinkman equations for the flow in porous
regions.
At the interface between free and porous media flow, the implemented boundary
condition between these domains enforces continuity for the velocity field and for the
pressure.

T he o r y f o r t he Frac t u re Fl ow
Interface
The Fracture Flow interface uses tangential derivatives to define the flow along the
interior boundaries representing fractures within a porous (or solid) block. You can use
this interface on boundaries in 3D, 2D, and axisymmetric geometries.
Note: Fracture Flow is also available as a boundary condition in the Darcys Law and
Richards Equation interfaces.
The Fracture Flow interface uses this version of Darcys law:
f
q f = ----- d f Tp + g TD (2-26)

Here, qf is the volume flow rate per unit length in the fracture, f is the fractures
permeability, is the fluid dynamic viscosity, df is the thickness of the fracture, T
denotes the gradient operator restricted to the fractures tangential plane, p is the
pressure, is the fluid density, g is the acceleration of gravity, and D represents the
vertical coordinate.
Note: Turning off gravity effects sets the elevation D to zero.
The variable qf gives the volume flow rate per unit length of the fracture. The mean
fluid velocity within the fracture is ufqf/df.
Together with the material model, Equation 2-26 above, in combination with the
continuity equation integrated over the fracture cross section, produces a single
equation for the pressure.

df + T q f = d f Q m (2-27)
t f
THEORY FOR THE FRACTURE FLOW INTERFACE | 81

where f is the fracture porosity, and Qm is the mass source term kg/(m3s). The
thickness df can vary along the fracture and therefore appears on both sides of the
equation.
The Fracture Flow interface solves for the same dependent variable as for the equation
in the porous medium, the pressure p.
Equations and Material Models

Two material models are supportedDarcys Law Material Model and the Storage
Material Model.
D A RC Y S L AW M A T E R I A L M O D E L
This is the default setting of the Fracture Flow interface, and implements the flow as
described in Equation 2-27. The value for the density can be taken from the material
library or can be define by an arbitrary expression.
A variable for the porosity in the fracture f is created from the corresponding input
field.
STORAGE MATERIAL MODEL

The governing equation takes the following form:
p
S f d f ------ T q f = d f Q m
t
where Sf is the fracture storage coefficient (1/Pa).
In contrast to the Darcys Law and Richards Equation interfaces, the storage
coefficient is always a user defined expression.

Theory for the Richards Equation
Interface
Richards equation models flow in variably saturated porous media. With variably
saturated flow, hydraulic properties change as fluids move through the medium, filling
some pores and draining others.
This discussion of the Richards Equation interface begins with the propagation of a
single liquid (oil or water). The pore space not filled with liquid contains an immobile
fluid (air) at atmospheric pressure.
unsaturated saturated
Hp 0
Figure 2-4: Fluid retention and permeability functions that vary with pressure head, as
given by Van Genuchten formulas available in the Richards Equation interface.
Many efforts to simplify and improve the modeling of flow in variably saturated media
have produced a number of variants of Richards equation since its appearance. The
form that COMSOL Multiphysics solves is very general and allows for time-dependent
changes in both saturated and unsaturated conditions (see Ref. 1 and Ref. 2):
Cm p s
-------- + SeS ------ + ----- k r p + g D = Q m (2-28)
g t
THEORY FOR THE RICHARDS EQUATION INTERFACE | 83

where the pressure, p, is the dependent variable. In this equation, Cm represents the
specific moisture capacity, Se denotes the effective saturation, S is the storage
coefficient, s gives the hydraulic permeability, is the fluid dynamic viscosity, kr
denotes the relative permeability, is the fluid density, g is acceleration of gravity, D
represents the elevation, and Qm is the fluid source (positive) or sink (negative). Like
Darcys law, COMSOL Multiphysics solves Richards equation for a dependent
variable of pressure but provides features for specifying the values of the hydraulic head
or pressure head on the boundaries of a model, either directly or as part of the Pervious
Layer boundary condition. You can also use the hydraulic head and the pressure head
during results evaluation.
The fluid velocity across the faces of an infinitesimally small surface is
s
u = ----- k r p + g D

where u is the flux vector. The porous medium consists of pore space, fluids, and
solids, but only the liquids move. The equation above describes the flux as distributed
across a representative surface. To characterize the fluid velocity in the pores,
COMSOL Multiphysics also divides u by the volume liquid fraction, s. This
interstitial, pore or average linear velocity is uaus.
Retention and Permeability Relationships

Richards equation appears deceptively similar to the saturated flow equation set out
in the Darcys Law interface, but it is notoriously nonlinear (Ref. 3). Nonlinearities
arise because the material and hydraulic properties , Se, Cm, and kr vary for
unsaturated conditions (for example, negative pressure) and reach a constant value at
saturation (for example, pressure of zero or above). The volume of liquid per porous
medium volume, , ranges from a small residual value r to the total porosity s. Its
value is given in a constitutive relation in the model. The effective saturation, Se,
amounts to normalized to a maximum value of 1. The specific moisture capacity, Cm,
describes the change in as the solution progresses, the slope on a plot of versus
pressure (or pressure head). The relative permeability, kr, increases with moisture
content and varies from a nominal value to its maximum value at saturation, which
reveals that the fluid moves more readily when the porous medium is fully wet.
The Richards Equation interface in COMSOL Multiphysics offer three retention

models to define , Se, Cm, and kr:
The analytic formulas of van Genuchten.

The analytic formulas of Brooks and Corey.
A user defined expression.
The analytic formulas of van Genuchten (Ref. 4) and Brooks and Corey (Ref. 5) are so
frequently used that they are synonymous with this variably saturated flow modeling.
Posed in terms of pressure head Hpp g, the analytic expressions require data for
the saturated s and residual r liquid volume fractions as well as constants , n, m,
and l, which specify a particular medium type.
The van Genuchten equations define saturation when the fluid pressure is atmospheric
(that is, Hp = 0). These equations are

+ Se s r Hp 0
= r
s Hp 0

1
------------------------------------- Hp 0
Se = 1 + H n m
p
Hp 0
1
(2-29)
1-
----
1- m
----
m -
------------- m m Hp 0
Cm = 1 m s r Se 1 Se
Hp 0
0

1- m
----
2
Se l 1 1 Se m Hp 0
kr =
Hp 0
1

here, the constitutive parameter m is equal to 11 n. With the Brooks and Corey
approach, an air-entry pressure distinguishes saturated (Hp1) and unsaturated
(Hp1) flow so that
THEORY FOR THE RICHARDS EQUATION INTERFACE | 85

1
H p ---
+ Se s r
= r
s 1
--- H p

1 1
H p ---
------------------
Se = H n
p
1
--- H p
1
(2-30)
n 1 1
H p ---
------- r -----------------n-
Cm = Hp s H p
1
--- H p
0
2
--- + l + 2
1
H p ---
n
k r = Se
1
--- H p
1
here, the constitutive parameter m is equal to 11 n. COMSOL Multiphysics also

provides user-defined options for those who want to incorporate experimental data or
arbitrary expressions to define these relationships.
REFERENCES FOR THE RICHARDS EQUATION INTERFACE

1. J. Bear, Dynamics of Fluids in Porous Media, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co,
1972.
3. R.A. Freeze, Three-dimensional, Transient, Saturated-unsaturated Flow in a

Groundwater Basin, Water Resour.Res., vol. 7, no. 2, 1971.
4. M.Th. van Genuchten, A Closed-form Equation for Predicting the Hydraulic

Conductivity of Unsaturated Soils, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., vol. 44, 1980.
5. R.H. Brooks and A.T. Corey, Properties of Porous Media Affecting Fluid Flow,
J. Irrig. Drainage Div., ASCE Proc., vol. 72 (IR2), 1966.

3
The Solute Transport Interface
The following sections describe the Solute Transport interface found under the
Chemical Species Transport branch of the Model Wizard. The sections summarize
the interface including the different fields, material properties, and boundary
conditions associated with them, and suggests how and when to apply the
conditions.
In this section:
The Solute Transport Interface

Theory for the Solute Transport Interface
Note: The Transport of Diluted Species Interface is also available and described in
the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide. Also refer to the guide for detailed
information about selecting geometric entities (domains, boundaries, edges, and
points).
87
T he S o lute T r a n sp ort In t erface
The interface contains these media feature nodes:
Free Flow
Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid
Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid and Gas
Using these, models including a combination of porous media types can be studied.
The Solute Transport ( ) interface has the equations, boundary conditions, reaction
rate expressions, and solute sources for modeling of solute transport solving for the
species concentrations. The main feature nodes are the Free Flow; Mobile Liquid,
Immobile Solid and Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid and Gas nodes, which adds the
equations for the species concentrations, provides an interface for defining the
properties of the porous media, as well as additional properties governing sorption,
volatilization, dispersion and diffusion, and the velocity field, which is a model input.
interface see the Theory for the Solute Transport Interface.
Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid, No Flux (the default boundary condition), and Initial
Values.
Right-click the Solute Transport node to add other features that implement boundary
conditions, reaction rate expressions, and solute sources.
DOMAINS
Domains where you want to define the species concentrations and the equations
governing the solute transport. The default setting is to include all domains in the
model.
DEPENDENT VARIABLES
Add or remove species in the model and also change the names of the dependent
variables that represent the species concentrations.
Specify the Number of species. To add a single species, click the Add Concentration
button ( ). To remove a species, select it in the list and click the Remove
Concentration button ( ). Edit the names of the species directly in the table.
88 | C H A P T E R 3 : T H E S O L U T E TR A N S P O R T I N T E R F A C E
Note: The species are dependent variables, and their names must be unique with
respect to all other dependent variables in the model.
ADVANCED SETTINGS
Access the Documentation and Model Library?). In addition, this section is available
with this interface:
Convective Term
Select a Convective termNon-conservative or Conservative.
DISCRETIZATION
Builder. Select a ConcentrationLinear (the default), Quadratic, Cubic, or Quartic.
Free Flow
The Free Flow feature adds species concentrations variables and the equations
governing species transport in a free flow liquid:
c i
+ c i u = D L i c i + R i + S i (3-1)
t
Here ci is the concentration (SI unit kg/m3) of species i, DL,i is the liquid phase
diffusion coefficient (SI unit m2/s), Ri denotes a reaction rate expression (kg/(m3s)),
and Si an arbitrary source term for solute i (kg/(m3s)). Equation 3-1 is a subset of
the Equation 3-1 and results from neglecting the porous media terms.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the species concentrations and the
equations governing them.
DIFFUSION
Specify the liquid phase diffusion coefficient DL,i (SI unit: m2/s). Enter a value or
expression for each of the species in the corresponding input field.
T H E S O L U T E TR A N S P O R T I N T E R F A C E | 89
MODEL INPUT
The Velocity field u (SI unit: m/s), which is used in the convective term, needs to be
specified as a model input.
Select User defined to enter values or expressions for the velocity components. This
input is always available.
In addition, select velocity fields defined by a fluid-flow interface present in the
model (if any). For example, you can then select Velocity field (spf/fp1) to use the
velocity field defined by the Fluid Properties node fp1 in a single-phase flow interface
spf.
Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid

The Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid feature adds species concentrations variables and the
following equations governing species transport in a mobile liquid flowing through an
immobile solid phase (the porous media):
c i s
s + b k P i + c i P c P i + ci u =
t t (3-2)
D D i + L i D L i c i + R i + S i
Equation 3-2 is a subset of the general Equation 3-6 and results from neglecting the
terms relating to the gas phase.
DOMAINS
POROUS MEDIA
Enter properties of the porous media. Enter the Pore volume fraction (unitless) and the
Bulk density (SI unit: kg/m3).
SORPTION
Specify the sorption isotherms governing species sorption to the immobile solid phase.
For each species select one of the following:
The default is Langmuir, which uses a Langmuir isotherm. Enter a Langmuir constant
kL (SI unit: m3/kg) and a Sorption maximum S C (dimensionless).
Select Freundlich, to use a Freundlich isotherm. Enter a Freundlich constant kF
(dimensionless) and a Freundlich exponent NF.
Select User defined to specify a user defined sorption isotherm.
The sorption isotherms are defined in Equation 3-7.
DISPERSION
Specify the Dispersion tensor components:
Select Dispersivity, shared to specify the dispersion in terms of the components of the
dispersivity (SI unit: m), using the same dispersivity components for all species.
Select Dispersivity, individual to specify the dispersion in terms of the components of
the dispersivity (SI unit: m), using different dispersivity components for each
species.
Select User defined, shared to specify the dispersion components as user defined
constants or expressions, applying the same dispersion tensor DD (SI unit: m2/s) for
all species. This is the default setting. Select Isotropic, Diagonal, Symmetric, or
Anisotropic based on the properties of the dispersion tensor.
Select User defined, individual to specify the dispersion components as user defined
constant or expressions, applying different dispersion tensors DD (SI unit: m2/s) for
all species. For each species, select Isotropic, Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic
based on the properties of the dispersion tensor for that species.
For the definitions of the dispersivities components see Dispersion.
DIFFUSION
Specify the liquid phase diffusion coefficient DL,i (SI unit: m2/s) and the liquid phase
tortuosity factor. For the diffusion coefficient enter a value or expression for each of
the species in the corresponding input field.
Define the liquid phase tortuosity factor using the Liquid phase tortuosity factor list:
Select Millington and Quirk model to compute the tortuosity using Equation 3-9 or
Equation 3-10 (unsaturated or saturated). This is the default setting and applies to
all species.
Select User defined to enter a user defined value or expression for each of the species.
MODEL INPUT
The Velocity field u (SI unit: m/s), which is used in the convective term, needs to be
specified as a model input.
In addition, you can select velocity fields defined by a fluid-flow interface present in
the model (if any). For example, you can then select Velocity field (br/fmp1) to use
the velocity field defined by the Fluid and Matrix Properties node fmp1 in a Brinkman
Equations interface (br).
Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid and Gas

The Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid and Gas feature adds species concentrations variables
and the following equations governing species transport in a mobile liquid flowing
through a porous media consisting of an immobile solid phase including gas phase
pockets, as derived in Solute Transport Equations:
c i
+ b k P i + a v k G i + 1 k G i c i
t t
s
P c P i k G i c i + ci u
t
= D D i + D e c i + R i + S i
where the effective diffusivity is
D e = L i D L i + a v D G i k G i G i
The governing equations includes the following variables
VARIABLE SI UNIT DESCRIPTION
s 1 Pore volume fraction

1 Liquid volume fraction
VARIABLE SI UNIT DESCRIPTION
avs 1 Gas volume fraction

ci kg/m3 Species concentration
b kg/m3 Bulk density
P kg/m3 Solid phase density
kP,i m3/kg Sorption isotherm
kG,i 1 Volatilization
DD,i m2/s Dispersion tensor
u m/s Convective velocity
Ri kg/(m3/s) Reaction rate expression
Si kg/(m3/s) Solute source term
L,i 1 Liquid phase tortuosity
DL,i m2/s Liquid phase diffusion coefficient
G,i 1 Gas phase tortuosity
DG,i m2/s Gas phase diffusion coefficient
DOMAINS
PO RO US MEDIA
Enter properties of the porous media. Enter the Pore volume fraction, s (unitless), the
Liquid volume fraction, , (unitless), and the Bulk density, b, (SI unit: kg/m3) in the
corresponding edit fields.
Select the Fluid fraction time change. Select:
Fluid fraction constant in time (the default) if the fluid fraction stays constant.
Time change in fluid fraction to define the time rate of change in the fluid fraction
d/dt. The default is 0.
Time change in pressure head to use the following equation for the fluid fraction time
change:
H p
= Cm
t t
For defining Hpt (SI unit: m/s), select User defined to enter a different value. If
the model includes a Darcys Law interface, for example, you can also choose Time
change in pressure head (dl/GravityEffects) from the list to use the time change in
pressure head computed by the Darcys Law interface. You also specify the specific
moisture capacity Cm (SI unit: 1/m) in the corresponding edit field.
SORPTION
Specify the sorption isotherms governing species sorption to the immobile solid phase.
In the list for each species select one of the following:
The default is Langmuir, and uses Langmuir isotherm. Enter a Langmuir constant kL
(SI unit: m3/kg) and a Sorption maximum S C (dimensionless).
Select Freundlich, to use a Freundlich isotherm. Enter a Freundlich constant kF
(dimensionless) and a Freundlich exponent NF.
Select User defined to specify a different sorption isotherm.
The sorption isotherms are defined in Equation 3-7
VO L A T I L I Z A T I O N
Specify the volatilization kG (unitless) governing the transport of each species due to
volatilization to the gas phase. To specify kG, enter a value or expression in the
Volatilization edit field of the corresponding species.
DISPERSION
Select the Dispersion tensor components:
Select Dispersivity, shared to specify the dispersion in terms of the components of the
dispersivity (SI unit: m), using the same dispersivity components for all species.
Select Dispersivity, individual to specify the dispersion in terms of the components of
the dispersivity (SI unit: m), using different dispersivity components for each
species.
Select User defined, shared to specify the dispersion components as user defined
constants or expressions, applying the same dispersion tensor DD (SI unit: m2/s) for
all species. This is the default setting. Select Isotropic, Diagonal, Symmetric, or
Anisotropic based on the properties of the dispersion tensor.
Select User defined, individual to specify the dispersion components as user defined
constant or expressions, applying different dispersion tensors DD (SI unit: m2/s) for
all species. For each species, select Isotropic, Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic
based on the properties of the dispersion tensor for that species.
For the definitions of the dispersivities components see Dispersion.
DIFFUSION
Specify the species diffusion coefficients for the liquid DL,i and gas phase DG,i (SI unit:
m2/s), and the liquid L,i and gas phase tortuosity factors L,i (unitless). For the
diffusion coefficient enter a value or expression for each of the species in the
corresponding input fields.
Define the Liquid phase tortuosity factor and the Gas phase tortuosity factor using the
following options. Select:
Millington and Quirk model to compute the tortuosity using Equation 3-9 or
Equation 3-10 (unsaturated or saturated). This is the default setting and applies to
all species.
User defined to enter a user defined value or expression for the tortuosity factors of
each species.
MODEL INPUT
The Velocity field u (SI unit: m/s) for the convection of the solvent, which is used in
the convective term, needs to be specified as model input.
In addition, select velocity fields defined by a fluid-flow interface present in the
model (if any). For example, you can then select Velocity field (br/fmp1) to use the
velocity field defined by the Fluid and Matrix Properties node fmp1 in a Brinkman
Equations interface (br).
Reactions
In order to account for consumption or production of species due to reactions, the
Reactions feature adds reaction rate expressions Ri to the right hand side of the species
transport equations.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to use the rate expressions defined in the node.
REACTIONS
Define a Rate expression Ri (SI unit: kg/(m3s)) for each of the species solved for.
Enter a value or expression in the edit field of the corresponding species.
Solute Source
In order to account for consumption or production of species due to a liquid source,
the Solute Source feature source terms Si to the right hand side of the species transport
equations.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to use the rate expressions defined in the node.
REACTIONS
Define a Source term Si (SI unit: kg/(m3s)) for each of the species solved for. Type a
value or expression in the edit field of the corresponding species.
Initial Values
The Initial Values feature adds an initial value for the concentrations that can serve as
an initial condition for a transient simulation or as an initial guess for a nonlinear solver.
If you need to specify more than one set of initial values, you can add additional Initial
Values nodes.
DOMAINS
INITIAL VALUES
Enter a value or expression for the initial value of the concentrations in the edit fields
for each concentration ci. The default values are 0.
Boundary Conditions for the Solute Transport Interface

The following boundary conditions are available on exterior boundaries:
Concentration
Inflow
No Flux (the default boundary condition)
Flux
Symmetry
Outflow
No Flow Boundary Volatilization
Flow Boundary Volatilization
Periodic Condition
Open Boundary
On interior boundaries the default boundary condition provides continuity in the

normal flux across the boundary. In addition, you can use the following boundary
conditions on interior boundaries:
Flux Discontinuity
Flux

boundaries (at r = 0) into account and automatically adds an Axial Symmetry node to
Concentration
The Concentration feature provides a boundary condition for specifying the
concentration (SI unit: kg/m3) of species at the boundary; for example the following
boundary condition specifies the concentration for species concentration ci.
ci = c0
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply a concentration boundary condition.
CONCENTRATION
Specify the concentration for each species individually. Select the check box for the
species for which you want to specify the concentration, and enter a value or expression
in the corresponding edit field. Conversely, if you want to use another boundary
condition for a specific species, clear the check box for that species mass fraction.
Inflow
The Inflow feature adds a boundary condition for an inflow boundary, where you
specify the concentration all species in the manner of:
ci = c0
This condition is similar to that of the Concentration node, except that the
concentrations of all species are specified.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply an inflow boundary condition.
PAIR SELECTION
If Inflow is selected from the Pairs submenu, select the boundary pair where you want
to define an inflow. First an identity pair may have to be created. Ctrl-click to deselect.
CONCENTRATION
Specify the concentration of each species individually by entering a value or expression
in the corresponding edit field.
No Flux
The No Flux feature, which is the default boundary condition on exterior boundaries,
represents boundaries where no mass flows in or out; that is, the total flux is zero:
n c i u D D + D e c i = 0
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply a no-flux boundary condition.
NO FLUX
Select Apply for all species to specify no flux for all species. Select Apply for and select
the check boxes for the species for which you want to specify the condition. If you want
to use another boundary condition for a specific species, clear the check box for that
species.
Flux
The Flux feature can be used to specify the total flux (SI unit: kg/(m2s)) across a
boundary. The total flux of a solute is defined in the manner of:
n c i u D D + D e c i = N 0
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply a flux boundary condition.
PAIR SELECTION
If Flux is selected from the Pairs sub menu, select the boundary pair where you want
to define this feature. First an identity pair may have to be created. Ctrl-click to
deselect.
INWARD FLUX
Specify the flux of each species individually. Select the check box for the species for
which you want to specify the flux, and enter a value or expression in the
corresponding edit field. Conversely, if you want to use another boundary condition
for a specific species, clear the check box for that species mass fraction.
Symmetry
The Symmetry feature can be used to represents boundaries with symmetric
concentrations of all species; that is, there is no mass flux in the normal direction across
the boundary.
This boundary condition is identical to that of the No Flux node, but applies to all
species and cannot be applied to individual species.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply a symmetry condition.
Outflow
The Outflow feature is useful at outflow boundaries in mass transport models where
you can assume that convection is the dominating effect that causes the mass flow
through the outflow boundary. In other words, the mass flux due to diffusion across
the boundary is zero. This is the preferred boundary conditions at outlets where the
species are to be transported out of the model domain. The boundary condition is
applied to all species and corresponds to
n D D + D e c i = 0
This is a useful boundary condition, particularly in convection-dominated mass

balances where the outlet concentration is unknown.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply an outflow boundary condition.
No Flow Boundary Volatilization
The No Flow Boundary Volatilization feature provides a boundary condition that models
the interaction between variably saturated porous media and an adjacent gas phase.
This boundary condition provides gas-phase only diffusion across a boundary. This
corresponds to a no-flow soil surface at the contact with the atmosphere. The equation
for the No Flow Boundary Volatilization boundary condition is
D mG i
n D D + D e c i = ---------------- k G i c i c Gatm i
di
where di is the thickness of the concentration boundary layer, kG,i is the volatilization,
and cGatm, i the bulk concentration in the atmosphere of species, all for species i.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply a no flow boundary volatilization
boundary condition.
N O F L O W B O U N D A R Y VO L A T I L I Z A T I O N
Define for which species the no flow boundary volatilization condition applies by
selecting the corresponding check box (for example, Species c1). Then enter the
following parameters for that species in the edit fields underneath the check box:
Enter a value or expression for chemical concentration beyond the stagnant layer
cGatm, i in the Atmospheric concentration edit field (SI unit: kg/m3).
Enter a value or expression for the thickness of the concentration boundary layer di
in the Concentration boundary layer thickness edit field (SI unit: m).
For the species for which does not specify the no flow boundary volatilization
condition, another boundary condition is valid (if not defined, it is the default No Flux
condition).
Flow Boundary Volatilization

The Flow Boundary Volatilization feature provides a boundary condition that models the
interaction between variably saturated porous media and an adjacent gas phase. To
account for the concentration in an exiting fluid, in addition to the gas volatilization
in the No Flow Boundary Volatilization boundary condition, the following boundary
condition is useful:
D mG i
n c i u D D + D e c i = n uc 0 i ---------------- k G i c i c Gatm,i
di
where the value of c0, i specifies the concentration of the exiting liquid, di is the
thickness of the stagnant boundary layer, and cGatm, i is the chemical concentration
beyond the stagnant layer (in the atmosphere), all for species i.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply a flow boundary volatilization
boundary condition.
F L O W B O U N D A R Y VO L A T I L I Z A T I O N
Define for which species the flow boundary volatilization condition applies by selecting
the corresponding check box (for example, Species c1). Then enter the following
parameters for that species in the edit fields underneath the check box:
Enter a value or expression for the concentration of the exiting liquid c0, i in the
Concentration edit field (SI unit: kg/m3).
Enter a value or expression for chemical concentration beyond the stagnant layer
cGatm, i in the Atmospheric concentration edit field (SI unit: kg/m3).
Enter a value or expression for the thickness of the stagnant boundary layer di (SI
unit: m).
For the species for which you do not define the flow boundary volatilization condition,
another boundary condition is valid (if not defined, it is the default No Flux
condition).
Flux Discontinuity
The Flux Discontinuity feature represents a discontinuity in the mass flux across a
boundary between two domains:
n Nd Nu = N0 N = c i u D D + D e c i
where the value of N0 (SI unit: kg/(m2s)) specifies the size of the flux jump. This
boundary condition is only available on interior boundaries.
BOUNDARIES
Select the interior boundaries where you want to apply a flux discontinuity boundary
condition.
PAIR SELECTION
If Flux Discontinuity is selected from the Pairs submenu, select the boundary pair where
you want to define a flux discontinuity. First an identity pair may have to be created.
Ctrl-click to deselect.
INWARD FLUX
Specify the jump in species flux, using a positive value for increasing flux when going
from the down to the up side of the boundary. The normal direction points in the
direction from down side toward the upside of an interior boundary and can be plotted
for visualization. Select the check boxes for the species that you want to specify a flux
discontinuity for (for example, Species 1), and then enter the jump in the mass flux in
the corresponding edit field. If you want to use another boundary condition for a
specific species, clear the check box for that species flux discontinuity.
Periodic Condition
The Periodic Condition feature adds a periodic boundary condition. This periodicity
make uix0uix1 for a displacement ui. You can control which of the directions that
the periodic condition applies to. Right-click the Periodic Condition node to add a
Destination Selection boundary condition. If the source and destination boundaries are
rotated with respect to each other, this transformation is automatically performed, so
that corresponding displacement components are connected.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to define a periodic boundary condition. The
software automatically identifies the boundaries as either source boundaries or
destination boundaries. This works fine for cases like opposing parallel boundaries. In
other cases you can use the Destination Selection feature to control the destination. By
default it contains the selection that COMSOL Multiphysics has identified.
Destination Selection
The Destination Selection is a subnode of the Periodic Condition node and is used to
control the destination. To add this to the Model Builder, right-click Periodic Condition
and select Destination Selection.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to define a periodic boundary condition. The
software automatically identifies the boundaries as either source boundaries or
destination boundaries. By default it contains the selection that COMSOL
Multiphysics has identified.
Open Boundary
Use the Open Boundary node to set up mass transport across boundaries where both
convective inflow and outflow can occur. The feature lets you specify an exterior
species concentration on parts of the boundary where fluid flows into the domain. A
condition equivalent to the Outflow feature applies to parts of the boundary where
fluid flows out of the domain.
The direction of the flow across the boundary is typically calculated by a Fluid Flow
interface, and is provided as a Model Input to the Solute Transport interface.
BOUNDARIES
Select the boundaries where you want to apply the open boundary condition.
EXTERIOR CONCENTRATION
Enter a value or expression for the Exterior concentration c0,c (SI unit: kg/m3).
Theory for the Solute Transport
Interface
Solute Transport Equations
VAR IA BLY SATURATED PORO US MEDIA

The following equations for the concentrations ci describe the transport of solutes in
variably saturated porous media for the most general case, when the pore space is
primarily filled with liquid but also contain pockets or immobile gas:
c
i + b c Pi + (a v c Gi) = D D i + D e i c i + R i + S i (3-3)
t t t
In Equation 3-3 ci denotes the concentration of species i in the liquid (mass per liquid
volume), cP the amount adsorbed to solid particles (mass per dry unit weight of the
solid), and cG the concentration in the gas phase (mass per volume gas). The equation
balances the mass transport throughout the porous media using the liquid volume
fraction , the bulk density:
b = 1 s P
and the resulting gas volume fraction:
av = s
In the above equations P is the solid phase density (SI unit kg/m3) and s is the pore
volume fraction (unitless). Out of the two densities, the bulk densities is specified in
the interface and the solid phase density is computed using the pore volume fraction.
On the left-hand side of Equation 3-3 the first three terms correspond to the
accumulation of species mass within the liquid, solid, and gas phases, while the last
term describes the convection due to the directional velocity u (SI unit m/s). On the
right-hand side, the first term introduces the spreading off mass from to mechanical
mixing (dispersion), as well as from diffusion and volatilization to the gas phase. The
tensor is denoted DD (SI unit m2/s) and the effective diffusion by De (SI unit m2/s).
The last two term describe production or consumption of the species; Ri is a reaction
rate expression which can account for reactions in the liquid, solid, or gas phase, and
Si is an arbitrary source term, for example due to a fluid flow source or sink.
In order to solve for the solute concentration of species i, ci, the solute mass sorbed to
solids cP,i and dissolved in the gas-phase cG,i are assumed to be functions of ci.
Expanding the time-dependent terms gives
c
i + b c P i + (a v c G i ) =
t t t
(3-4)
c i s
+ b k P i + a v k G i + 1 k G i c i P c P i k G i c i
t t t
where kP,icP,ici is the adsorption isotherm and kG,icG,ici is the linear

volatilization. Equation 3-4 can then be written as
c i s
+ b k P i + a v k G i + 1 k G i c i P c P i k G i c i + ci u
t t t (3-5)
= D D + D e c i + R i + S i
SATURATED PO RO US MEDIA
In the case of transport in saturated porous media, the governing equations are:
c i s
s + b k P i + c i P c P i + ci u =
t t (3-6)
D D i + L i D L i c i + R i + S i
Advection
Advection describes the movement of a solute, such as a pollutant, with the bulk fluid
velocity. In this interface you provide the velocities, u, which correspond to superficial
volume averages over a unit volume of the medium, including both pores and matrix.
These velocities are sometimes called Darcy velocities, and defined as volume flow rates
per unit cross section of the medium. This definition makes the velocity field
continuous across the boundaries between porous regions and regions with free flow.
The velocity field to be used in the Model Inputs section can for example be prescribed
using the velocity field from a Darcys Law or a Brinkman Equations interface.
The average linear fluid velocities ua, provides an estimate of the fluid velocity within
the pores:
T H E O R Y F O R T H E S O L U T E TR A N S P O R T I N T E R F A C E | 105
u
u a = ----- Saturated
s
u
u a = ---- Unsaturated

where s is the pore volume fraction and the liquid volume fraction. For saturated
porous media, s is typically in the range of 0.1 to 0.5.
Figure 3-1: A porous media block consisting of solids and the pore space between the solid
grains. The average linear velocity describes how fast the fluid moves within the pores. The
Darcy velocity attributes this flow over the entire fluid-solid face.
Sorption
As solutes travel through a porous medium they typically attach to (adsorb), and
detach (desorb) from, the solid phase, which slows chemical transport through the
porous medium. Sorption and desorption respectively reduces or increases dissolved
concentrations. The sorption properties vary between chemicals, so a plume
containing multiple contaminants may divide into a number of staggered plumes, each
with a different composition (Ref. 1). The physics interface predefines three
relationships to predict the solid concentrations, cPi from the concentration in the
liquid phase, ci:
c P
cP = KP c -------- = K P c User defined
c c
N c P
cP = KF c -------- = NK F c N 1 Freundlich (Ref. 3) (3-7)
c
K L sc c P KL s
c P = -------------------- -------- = ---------------------------
- Langmuir (Ref. 4, Ref. 5)
1 + KL c c 1 + KL c
2
The above equations contains the following parameters:
User defined: User defined isotherm KP (unitless)

Freundlich model: Freundlich exponent N (unitless), Freundlich constant KF (SI
unit m3/kg)N).
Langmuir: Langmuir sorption maximum s (mass solute per mass solid), Langmuir
constant KL (SI unit m3/kg).
These predefined expressions are adsorption isotherms that describe the amount of
solutes sorbed to the solid. Defined at equilibrium, the switch between liquid and solid
phases is instantaneous. In COMSOL Multiphysics you also can enter arbitrary
expressions to define, for example, nonequilibrium and temperature-dependent
sorption laws, including those set out by Fetter (Ref. 2) and Bear and Verruijt (Ref. 3).
The retardation factor, RF, describes how sorption slows the solute velocity, uc,
relative to the average linear velocity of the fluid, ua, as in
b c P ua
RF = 1 + ------ -------- = ------
c uc
If the contaminant moves at the average linear velocity of the fluid for RF = 1. For
RF > 1, the contaminant velocity is smaller than the fluid velocity owing to residence
time on solids.
Dispersion
The spreading of mass, as species travel through a porous medium is caused by several
contributing effects. Local variations in pore fluid velocity lead to mechanical mixing
referred to as dispersion. The dispersion occurs because fluids in pore spaces flows
around solid particles, so velocities vary within pore channels (see Pore-Scale Flow in
the Earth Science Module Model Library or see Where Do I Access the
Documentation and Model Library?). The spreading in the direction parallel to the
flow or longitudinal dispersion typically exceeds transverse dispersion from three to
ten times. Being driven by the concentration gradient alone, molecular diffusion is
small relative to the mechanical mixing, except at very low fluid velocities.
In this interface, dispersion is controlled through the dispersion tensor DD. The tensor
components can either be given by user defined values or expressions, or by directional
dispersivities.
Figure 3-2: Spreading of fluid around solid particles in a porous medium.
Using directional dispersivities in 2D, the tensor components are (Ref. 4):
2 2
ui uj ui u
D Dii = 1 ------- + 2 ------- and D Dij = D Dji = 1 2 -----------j
u u u
In these equations, DDii are the principal components of the dispersion tensor, and
DDji and DDji are the cross terms (SI unit m2/s). 1 specifies the longitudinal
dispersivity and 2 the transverse dispersivity (SI unit m).
In order to facilitate modeling of stratified porous media in 3D, the tensor formulation
by Burnett and Frind (Ref. 5) can be used:
2 2 2
u v w
D Lxx = 1 ------- + 2 ------- + 3 -------
u u u
2 2 2
v u w
D Lyy = 1 ------- + 2 ------- + 3 -------
u u u
2 2 2
w u v
D Lzz = 1 ------- + 3 ------- + 3 -------
u u u (3-8)
uv
D Lxy = D Lyx = 1 2 -------
u
uw
D Lxz = D Lzx = 1 3 --------
u
vw
D Lyz = D Lzy = 1 3 --------
u
In Equation 3-8 the fluid velocities u, v, and w correspond to the components of the
velocity vector u in the x, y, and z directions, respectively, and 1 is the longitudinal
dispersivity (SI unit m). If z is vertical, 2 and 3, are the dispersivities in the transverse
horizontal and transverse vertical directions, respectively (SI unit m). Setting 23
gives the expressions shown in Bear (Ref. 4 and Ref. 6).
Diffusion
The contribution of dispersion to the mixing of species typically overshadows the
contribution from molecular diffusion, except when the fluid velocity is very small.
The effective diffusion in porous media, De, depends on the structure of the porous
material and the phases (solid or solid and gas). In this interface, the effective
diffusivities are defined as:
De = DL Free Flow
D e = L D L Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid
D e = L D L + a v D G k G G Mobile Liquid, Immobile Solid and Gas
Here DL and DG are the single phase diffusion coefficients for the species in the liquid
and gas phase respectively (SI unit m2/s), and L and G are the corresponding
tortuosity factors (unitless). The tortuosity factors (less than one) account for the
reduced diffusivities due to the fact that the solid grains impede the Brownian motion.
The physics interface provides predefined expressions to compute the tortuosity
factors according to the Millington and Quirk model (Ref. 7):
7 3 2 7 3 2
L = s , G = av s (3-9)
For saturated porous media = s and the liquid tortuosity is:
13
L = (3-10)
User defined expressions for the tortuosity can also be used.
Reactions
Chemical reactions of all types influence solute transport in the environment.
Examples include biodegradation, radioactive decay, transformation to tracked
products, temperature- and pressure-dependent functions, exothermic reactions, and
endothermic reactions. The reactions represent change in solute mass per unit volume
porous medium per time. You can use reaction terms on the right-hand side of the
governing equation to represent these processes. For reactions in a liquid phase,
multiply the expression by the liquid volume fraction . Similarly, solid phase reaction
expressions include the bulk density b, and gas phase reactions include the gas volume
fraction av. The following expressions define some common types of reactions:
ln 2
R Li = --------- c i Radioactive decayliquid
Li
ln 2 c Pi
R Pi = b --------- ---------- c i Radioactive decaysolid
Pi c i
c Gi
R Gi = --------- a v ----------- c i Radioactive decaygas
ln 2
Gi c
R Lk = Li c i Creation from parent c Li liquid
c Pi
R Pk = b Pi ---------- c i Creation from sorbed parent c Pi solid
c i
c Gi
R Gk = a v ----------- c i Reactiongas
c
where is the chemical half life, is a reaction rate, and the subscripts L, P, and G
denote liquid, solid, and gas phases, respectively. In the equations, the reactions either
depend on liquid concentration ci or solid phase concentrations cPi obtained using the
sorption derivative with ci or gas phase concentration cGi depending on the gas volume
fraction, the volatilization, and the liquid concentration.
Reaction rates can vary with results from other equations in your model, such as
temperature. For example, you can enter the Arrhenius rate law given in Ref. 8:
Ea T TR
T = R exp ------------------------------ (3-11)
R u TT R
In Equation 3-11, T denotes the current absolute temperature, TR denotes the

reference absolute temperature, Ea is the activation energy, and Ru equals the universal
gas constant.
Convective Term Formulation

This interface includes two formulations of the convective term. Using a compact
form, the conservative formulation of the solutes equations can be written as:
c i
P 1 ------- + P 2 + uc i = P 3 c i + R i + S i (3-12)
t
where the contents of the terms P1, P2, and P3, depend on the phases in the porous
media. When using the non-conservative formulation, which is the default, the fluid is
assumed incompressible in which case the flow field divergence free:
u = 0
and solutes equations can be written as:
c i
P 1 ------- + P 2 + u c i = P 3 c i + R i + S i (3-13)
t
The non-conservative formulation in Equation 3-13 improves the stability of systems

coupled to a momentum equation (fluid-flow equation).
R E F E R E N C E S F O R T H E S O L U T E TR A N S P O R T I N T E R F A C E
1. D.M. Mackay, D.L. Freyberg, P.V. Roberts, and J.A. Cherry, A Natural Gradient
Experiment on Solute Transport in a Sand Aquifer: 1. Approach and Overview of
Plume Movement, Water Resourc. Res., vol. 22, no. 13, pp. 20172030, 1986.
2. C.W. Fetter, Contaminant Hydrogeology, Prentice Hall, 1999.
3. J. Bear and A. Verruijt, Modeling Groundwater Flow and Pollution, D. Reidel

Publishing Co., 1994.
5. R.D. Burnett and E.O. Frind, An Alternating Direction Galerkin Technique for
Simulation of Groundwater Contaminant Transport in Three Dimensions: 2.
Dimensionality Effects, Water Resour. Res., vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 695705, 1987.
6. J. Bear, Dynamics of Fluids in Porous Media, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co.,

1972.
7. R. J. Millington and J. M. Quirk, Permeability of Porous Solids, Trans. Faraday

Soc., vol. 57, pp. 1200-1207, 1961.
8. I. Langmuir, Chemical Reactions at Low Temperatures, J. Amer. Chem. Soc.,

vol. 37, 1915.
4
The Heat Transfer Interfaces
This section has information about the Heat Transfer interfaces used for
modeling, particularly in porous media. As with all other physical descriptions
simulated by COMSOL Multiphysics, any description of heat transfer can be
directly coupled to any other physical process. This is particularly relevant for
systems based on chemical reactions and mass transfer, along with fluid flow.
In this section:
The Mechanisms for Heat Transfer

The Heat Transfer in Porous Media Interface
Theory for the Heat Transfer in Porous Media Interface
113
The Mechanisms for Heat Transfer
The Heat Transfer branch included with the Earth Science Module license includes a
number of subbranches to describe energy transport. One or more can be added from
the Model Wizard.
Heat transfer through conduction and convection (both non-isothermal flow and
conjugate heat transfer) in solid and free media is supported by physics interfaces
shipped with the basic COMSOL Multiphysics license. The Heat Transfer Interface
and The Joule Heating Interface are described in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users
Guide. Also see the Theory for the Heat Transfer Interfaces.
If you are using the Earth Science Module with enhanced Heat Transfer interface
features (such as extended thermodynamic settings), also see the Heat Transfer
Module documentation for additional information. To locate and search all the
documentation, in COMSOL, select Help>Documentation from the main menu and
either enter a search term or look under a specific module in the documentation tree.
Also see Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?
The Earth Science Module also includes a The Heat Transfer in Porous Media
Interface. The interface itself supports heat transfer in porous media where the thermal
conductivity and heat capacity are affected by the extent of porosity. As a porous media
is made up of a solid matrix filled with a fluid, heat is transported at different rates
through the two types of media. The Heat Transfer in Porous Media physics interface
provides tools and support for defining an appropriate matrix model.
The heat transfer in porous media interface in the Earth Science Module characterizes
temperature distributions for geological phenomena and freely couple to other physics
in a model. The interface applies to systems consisting of porous media, solids and
fluids. Included are interfaces to calculate effective properties for porous media
consisting of fluids and solid components, or a rock formation with different mineral
proportions. The physics interface also features predefined expressions to represent the
geotherm as a radiogenic heat source.
114 | C H A P T E R 4 : T H E H E A T TR A N S F E R I N T E R F A C E S
Heat Conduction
The Heat Transfer interface in this module provides tools for analyzing heat transfer
that is proportional to a temperature gradient, or conduction. It accounts explicitly for
the geotherm as a heat source. This interface provides options to calculate thermal
properties for multicomponent media. It incorporates boundary and source options to
represent transversal fluxes such as convection and radiation at adjacent domains that
you do not explicitly model.
The interface describes heat flow with negligible impacts of moving fluids. Just a few
targets for conduction modeling include resistive heating in cores, estimating a surface
heat flux, describing a temperature profile with depth, phase changes, exothermic
reactions, and cooling earth analyses. The physics interface provides tools to consider
radiative and convection heat transfers at boundaries so that you can focus on the
physics in the domain of interest. With COMSOL Multiphysics just-type-it-in
modeling flexibility, it is straightforward to create nonlinear expressions where, for
example, thermal conductivity varies with temperature as well as other physics.
Heat conduction figures into radiogenic decay, pressure-temperature phase changes,

cooling-earth models, radiation, exothermic and endothermic reactions of solutes,
microbial processes, diurnal heating, and many other earth processes. Conductive heat
transfer can be long-term steady or exquisitely sensitive over tiny time increments. It
can involve molten materials, mineral grains, fluids trapped within interstices,
human-made structures, and molten rock. The heat conduction can operate within
closed systems, but the geometry of interest often interacts at edges and surfaces with
adjacent domains through moving fluids, conduction across a semi-insulating layer,
and radiation. The models can cover such large distances that the tiny amount of heat
given off by the spontaneous decay of the radiogenic particles present in most rocks
produces the discernible temperature gradient with depth known to many as the
geotherm.
Heat Convection and Conduction

The Heat Transfer in Porous Media interface can also set up analyses for heat
transferred by convection and conduction for earth science applications. Use this
interface to describe heat carried by moving oil, water, or magma that you describe
with a velocity field. Presumably the fluid velocity is nonzero but not necessarily so.
You can couple the heat transfer interface to a fluid flow interface if you want to model,
for example, rising magma, hot springs, liquid-steam transfers, conduction in a solid
rock, buoyancy flow in streams, magma convection, and hot oil moving through a
T H E M E C H A N I S M S F O R H E A T TR A N S F E R | 115
pipe. For models involving large depth changes, this physics interface provides a
number of options to characterize the geothermal gradient.
The interface assumes that the model domain includes a single fluid moving through
a domain with a number of immobile constituents, including several different solids
and trapped fluids. Such is the case in many porous media.
The interface can also describe heat transferred with a moving fluid, which can be a
surface flow or one confined to interstices in a porous medium. Analyses can cover
thermal pollution migrating in a stream, transfer of hot oil into and up a well, steam
injection, and diurnal heating in variably saturated soil.
This interface easily combines with others for an unlimited number of interesting
analyses. Consider, for example, that it is straightforward to include the impacts of
temperature change on hydraulic conductivity, biodegradation and chemical reaction
rates, electric and magnetic potential fields, and rock strength. Likewise, you can feed
back results of other physics, including reactions that consume heat, to a heat transfer
model.
The Heat Transfer in Porous Media
Interface
After selecting Heat Transfer in Porous Media in the Model Wizard, a Heat Transfer ( )
node is added to the Model Builder with these default nodes: Porous Matrix, Heat
Transfer in Fluids, Thermal Insulation, and Initial Values. Right-click the main node to
open a context menu and add as many nodes as required to define the equations,
properties and boundary conditions for your application.
The Heat Transfer in Porous Media interface ( ) is an extension of a the generic Heat
Transfer interface that includes modeling heat transfer through convection, conduction
and radiation, conjugate heat transfer, and non-isothermal flow. The ability to define
material properties, boundary conditions and more for porous media heat transfer is
activated by selecting the Heat transfer in porous media check box on the Heat Transfer
Settings window (Figure 4-1).
Figure 4-1: The ability to model porous media heat transfer is activated by selecting the
Heat transfer in porous media check box in the Heat Transfer Settings window.
T H E H E A T TR A N S F E R I N P O R O U S M E D I A I N T E R F A C E | 117
All of the sections and settings in Figure 4-1, and many of the heat transfer features,
are described in The Heat Transfer Interface in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users
Guide. Only sections unique to the Heat Transfer in Porous Media interface, and to the
module you are using, are described in this section.
The theory this physics interface is based upon is included in the section Theory for
the Heat Transfer in Porous Media Interface. For general theory about the Heat
Transfer interface see Theory for the Heat Transfer Interfaces in the COMSOL
Multiphysics Users Guide. Also go to Where Do I Access the Documentation and
Model Library?.
In the Earth Science Module version of this interface, under Physical Model, select
Extended from the Porous matrix model list to use a version of the matrix feature to
account for multiple immobile solids and fluids, as well as for geothermal heating.
Porous Matrix
The Porous Matrix feature is used to specify the thermal properties of a porous matrix.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the heat transfer in porous media.
IMMOBILE SOLIDS
This section contains fields and values that are inputs to expressions that define
material properties. The Solid material list can point to any material in the model.
Under Volume fraction you set the volume fraction of solid material p.
If you have selected the extended porous matrix model, you can add up to five different
immobile solids and their volume fraction. The total volume fraction of solid material
is given by
p = pi
and the available volume fraction for the mobile fluid is defined as
L = 1 pi
HEAT CONDUCTION
Thermal Conductivity
The default Thermal conductivity (SI unit: W/(mK)) uses values From material. If User
defined is selected, choose Isotropic, Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic based on the
characteristics of the thermal conductivity and enter another value or expression in the
field or matrix. The thermal conductivity of the material kp describes the relationship
between the heat flux vector q and the temperature gradient T as in a solid material
q = k p T
which is Fouriers law of heat conduction. Enter the thermal conductivity as power per
length and temperature.
Effective Conductivity
When you select the extended porous matrix model, you can specify the thermal
conductivity for each immobile solid, which would give an average property for the
porous matrix k p = pi k pi / p . Under Effective conductivity, you can select a
Volume average, so the equivalent conductivity of the solid-fluid system is given by
k eq = p k p + L k L
You can also select a Power law expression

k eq = k p p k L L
for the effective conductivity of the composite material.
THERMODYNAMICS
The default Density (SI unit: kg/m3) of the solid material uses the value From material.
Select User defined to enter another value.
The default Specific heat capacity Cp,p (SI unit: J/(kgK)), which describes the amount
of heat energy required to produce a unit temperature change in a unit mass of the
solid material, uses values From material. Select User defined to enter another value.
The equivalent volumetric heat capacity of the solid-liquid system is calculated from
C p eq = p p C p p + L L C p L .
When you select the extended porous matrix model, you can specify the density and
heat capacity of up to five different immobile solids and their volume fractions. The
effective volumetric heat capacity of the composite solid-fluid system is defined as
C p eq = pi pi Cp pi + L L Cp L
Heat Transfer in Fluids

The Heat Transfer in Fluids feature is available with the basic COMSOL Multiphysics
license.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the heat transfer.
MODEL INPUTS
If you have added user defined property groups, this section displays fields and values
that are inputs to expressions that define material properties. There are two standard
model inputsAbsolute pressure and Velocity field.
Enter the Absolute pressure p (SI unit: Pa). The default is atmosphere pressure
(101,325 Pa).
From the Velocity field list, select an existing velocity field in the model (for example,
Velocity field (spf/fp1) from a Laminar Flow interface) or select User defined to enter
values or expressions for the components of the Velocity field (SI unit: m/s).
HEAT CONDUCTION
The default uses the Thermal conductivity k (SI unit: W/(mK)) From material. If User
defined is selected, choose Isotropic, Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic based on the
characteristics of the thermal conductivity and enter another value or expression in the
field or matrix. The thermal conductivity describes the relationship between the heat
flux vector q and the temperature gradient T as in
q = k T
which is Fouriers law of heat conduction. Enter this quantity as power per length and
temperature.
THERMODYNAMICS
The defaults in this section take values From material for the Density (SI unit: kg/m3),
Heat capacity at constant pressure CP (SI unit: J/(kgK)), and the Ratio of specific
heats (unitless) for a general gas or liquid. Select User defined to enter other values.
Thermal Dispersion
Right-click the Porous Matrix node to add the Thermal Dispersion feature. This adds an
extra term kdT to the right-hand side of Equation 4-1 and specify the values of the
longitudinal and transverse dispersivities.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to activate the thermal dispersion.
DISPERSIVITIES
The Dispersivities group adds two edit fields:
Longitudinal Dispersivity
You specify the longitudinal dispersivity lo (SI unit: m).
Transverse Dispersivity
You specify the transverse dispersivity tr (SI unit: m).
The feature node defines the tensor of dispersive thermal conductivity
d = C
k ij L p L D ij
where Dij is the dispersion tensor
uk ul
D ij = ijkl ------------
u
and ijkl is the fourth order dispersivity tensor
lo tr
ijkl = tr ij kl + -------------------- ik jl + il jk .
2
When you select the extended porous matrix model, the Dispersivities group contains
three edit fields:
Longitudinal Dispersivity
You specify the longitudinal dispersivity lo (SI unit: m).
Transverse Horizontal Dispersivity

You specify the transverse horizontal dispersivity tr,h (SI unit: m).
Transverse Vertical Dispersivity

You specify the transverse vertical dispersivity tr,v (SI unit: m).
The feature node assumes that z is the vertical direction and it defines the dispersion
tensor
lo u 2 + tr h v 2 + tr v w 2 lo tr h uv lo tr v uw
1
D ij = ------- lo tr h uv tr h u 2 + lo v 2 + tr v w 2 lo tr v vw
u
lo tr v uw lo tr v vw tr v u 2 + tr v v 2 + lo w 2
Immobile Fluids
Immobile Fluids is an attribute available only in the extended version of the Porous
Matrix feature. You can add up to five different immobile fluids and their volume
fractions.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the immobile fluids.
IMMOBILE FLUIDS
This section contains fields and values that are inputs to expressions that define
material properties. The Fluid material list can point to any material in the model.
Under Volume fraction you set the volume fraction of the immobile fluid gi.
The total volume fraction of immobile fluids is calculated from
g = gi
The volume fraction available for mobile fluids is then calculated from
L = 1 p g
here, the total volume fraction of immobile solids is calculated from p = pi .

HEAT CONDUCTION
Thermal Conductivity
The default Thermal conductivity kgi (SI unit: W/(mK)) uses values From material. If
User defined is selected, choose Isotropic, Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic based on
the characteristics of the thermal conductivity and enter another value or expression in
the field or matrix. The thermal conductivity describes the relationship between the
heat flux vector q and the temperature gradient T as in a solid material
q = k gi T
which is Fouriers law of heat conduction. Enter the thermal conductivity as power per
length and temperature.
If you select a Volume average under Effective conductivity, the equivalent conductivity
of the solid-fluid system is given by
k eq = p k p + g k g + L k L
The total conductivities of solid kp and immobile fluids kg are calculated from
kp = pi kpi /p and k g = gi kgi /g .

If you select a Power law expression, the effective conductivity is calculated from

k eq = k p p k g g k L L
THERMODYNAMICS
The default Density (SI unit: kg/m3) of the solid material uses the value From material.
Select User defined to enter another value.
The default Specific heat capacity Cp,gi (SI unit: J/(kgK)), which describes the amount
of heat energy required to produce a unit temperature change in a unit mass of
immobile fluid, uses values From material. Select User defined to enter another value.
The effective volumetric heat capacity of the composite solid-fluid system is defined as
C p eq = pi pi Cp pi + gi gi Cp gi + L L Cp L .
Geothermal Heating
Geothermal Heating is an attribute available to the extended version of the Porous
Matrix model. It adds a source term Qgeo to the right-hand side of Equation 4-1:
Q geo = geo q geo f z geo
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the geothermal heating.
GEOTHERMAL HEAT PRODUCTION

You specify the Radiogenic heating per mass in the edit field qgeo (SI unit: W/kg).
The two option buttons in the same group control the distribution function fzgeo:
Uniform distribution. You set fzgeo1.

Exponential distribution. You set the exponential distribution fzgeoexpzgeo
hgeo. Two edit fields are available:
- Length scale: You specify the constant hgeo (SI unit: m).
- Depth: You specify the depth variable zgeo (SI unit: m). The depth can be, for
example, the vertical coordinate direction. The heat source achieves its maximum
value where zgeo0, typically the top surface of your model.
GEOTHERMAL DENSITY
The Geothermal Density group has three option buttons:
Solids. The feature node calculates the geothermal density based on the volume
fraction of solid material
pi pi
geo = -----------------------
p
Porous media. The feature node calculates the geothermal density based on all
mobile and immobile components of the porous medium:
geo = pi pi + gi gi + L L
User defined. You enter the geothermal density in the edit field geo (SI unit: kg/
m3).
Heat Source
Add one or more Heat Source nodes. The heat source describes heat generation within
the domain. Express heating and cooling with positive and negative values,
respectively.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to add the heat source.
HEAT SOURCE
Select either the General source or Linear source button:
If General source is selected, enter a value for Q (SI unit: W/m3).

If Linear source (Q=qsT) is selected, enter the Production/absorption coefficient, qs (SI
unit: W/(m3K)).
The advantage in writing the source in this form is that it can be stabilized by the
streamline diffusion (see Stabilization Techniques in the COMSOL Multiphysics
Reference Guide or Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?). The
theory covers qs that is independent of the temperature, but some stability can be
gained as long as qs is only weakly dependent on the temperature.
Theory for the Heat Transfer in
Porous Media Interface
The Heat Transfer interface that displays in the Model Builder (after selecting Heat
Transfer in Porous Media in the Model Wizard) uses the following version of the heat
equation as the mathematical model for heat transfer in porous media:
T
C p eq ------- + L C pL u T = k eq T + Q
t (4-1)
with the following material properties:
L is the fluid density.

CpL is the fluid heat capacity at constant pressure.
(Cp)eq is the equivalent volumetric heat capacity at constant pressure.
keq is the equivalent thermal conductivity (a scalar or a tensor if the thermal
conductivities are anisotropic).
u is the fluid velocity field, either an analytic expression or a velocity field from a
fluid-flow interface. u should be interpreted as the Darcy velocity, that is, the
volume flow rate per unit cross-sectional area. The average linear velocity (the
velocity within the pores) can be calculated as uLuL, where L is the fluids
volume fraction, or equivalently the porosity.
Q is the heat source (or sink). You can add one or several heat sources as separate
features.
The equivalent conductivity of the solid-fluid system, keq, is related to the conductivity
of the solid kp and to the conductive of the fluid, kL by
k eq = p k p + L k L
The equivalent volumetric heat capacity of the solid-fluid system is calculated by
C p eq = p p C p p + L L C p L
Here p denotes the solid materials volume fraction, which is related to the volume
fraction of the liquid L (or porosity) by L + p = 1 .
For a steady-state problem the temperature does not change with time, and the first
term in the left-hand side of Equation 4-1 disappears.
5
The Poroelasticity Interface
This section describes the Poroelasticity interface found under the Structural
Mechanics branch of the Model Wizard. This interface combines Darcys law and
Solid Mechanics interfaces. Modeling orthotropic or anisotropic porous materials
requires the Structural Mechanics Module.
In this section:
The Poroelasticity Interface ( )

Theory for the Poroelasticity Interface
Note: Also refer to the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide for detailed
information about selecting geometric entities (domains, boundaries, edges, and
points).
127
The Poroelasticity Interface
The Poroelasticity interface ( ) combines a transient formulation of Darcys law with
solid mechanics. The poroelasticity coupling means that the liquid source Qs in
Darcys law is equal to the right-hand side in Equation 5-3, which includes the
Biot-Willis coefficient B, which is a dimensionless coefficient with a default value of
0.7.
The Poroelasticity interface is available in the following space dimensions:
2D, using plane strain

2D axisymmetry - COMSOL Multiphysics takes the axial symmetry boundaries (at
r = 0) into account and automatically adds an Axial Symmetry feature to the model
that is valid on the axial symmetry boundaries only.
3D
The main feature is the Poroelastic Material Model, which provides an interface for
defining the elastic properties of the drained porous medium, the properties of the
fluid, and the properties of the porous matrix, such as porosity and permeability.
interface, see the Theory for the Poroelasticity Interface.
Poroelastic Material Model, Free (a boundary condition where boundaries are free, with
no loads or constraints), No Flow (the default fluid boundary condition), and Initial
Values.
Right-click the Poroelasticity node to add other features that implement, for example,
boundary conditions, mass sources, and loads.
The default identifier (for the first interface in the model) is poro.
128 | CHAPTER 5: THE POROELASTICITY INTERFACE

DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the poroelasticity. The default setting is
to include all domains in the model.
EQUATION
NodesEquation Section in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or see Where
Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?) for more information.
GRAVITY EFFECTS
By default there are no gravity effects. You can add gravity in the Gravity Effects section.
Select On from the Gravity effects list to activate the gravity.
When gravity effect is on, you can specify the elevation D (in Equation 2-18) in the
Elevation edit field (SI unit: m). The default setting is z for 3D and 2D axisymmetric
geometries and y for 2D planar geometries. Under Acceleration of gravity you enter the
value for the acceleration of gravity (SI unit: m/s2). The default value is taken from
the constant g_const. See Physical Constants in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users
Guide.
REFERENCE POINT FOR MOMENT COMPUTATION

Enter the coordinates for the Reference point for moment computation refpnt (SI unit:
m). All moments are then computed relative to this reference point.
E L A S T I C TR A N S I E N T B E H AV I O R
From the Elastic transient behavior list, select Quasi-static or Transient elastic wave.

The dependent variables (field variables) are for the Pressure and the Displacement field.
You can change the name in the corresponding edit field, but the names of fields and
dependent variables must be unique within a model.
ADVANCED SETTINGS
Advanced Settings in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide. In addition, there is
this section for this interface:
THE POROELASTICITY INTERFACE | 129

Displacements Control Spatial Frame
The Displacements control spatial frame check box is selected by default. If required,
click to clear the check box.
DISCRETIZATION
Builder. Select Quadratic (the default), Linear, Cubic, or Quartic for the Displacement field
and Electric potential.
Poroelastic Material Model

In the Porous Material Model nodes Settings window you define the material properties
for the poroelastic material: the solid material, the fluid, and the porous matrix.
DOMAINS
Select the domains where you want to define the poroelasticity. The default setting is
to include all domains in the model.
MODEL INPUTS
Define the temperature field to use for a temperature-dependent material property. It
is initially empty.
COORDINATE SYSTEM SELECTION

The Global coordinate system is selected by default. The Coordinate system list contains
any additional coordinate systems that the model includes (except boundary systems).
POROELASTIC MATERIAL MODEL

The Porous elastic material defaults to Domain material, but you can choose any other
material that you have added to the model.
To use a mixed formulation by adding the negative mean pressure as an extra

dependent variable to solve for, select the Nearly incompressible material check box.
Select a Porous model: Drained Matrix, Isotropic for an elastic porous material that has
the same properties in all spatial directions.
Drained Matrix, Isotropic

For Isotropic porous materials, select a pair of elastic properties:
Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio to specify Youngs modulus (elastic modulus) E
(SI unit: Pa) and Poissons ratio (dimensionless) of the drained matrix.

Bulk modulus and shear modulus to specify the drained bulk modulus K (SI unit: Pa)
and the drained shear modulus G (SI unit: Pa). The drained bulk modulus is a
measure of the porous materials resistance to volume changes. The drained shear
modulus is a measure of the porous materials resistance to shear deformations.
Lam constants to specify the drained Lam constants (SI unit: Pa) and (SI unit:
Pa).
Pressure-wave and shear-wave speeds to specify the pressure-wave speed
(longitudinal wave speed) cp (SI unit: m/s) and the shear-wave speed (transverse
wave speed) cs (SI unit: m/s).
The default selection for each of these pairs of properties is From material. The value
of the parameters are then the value defined for the material that you select in the
Porous elastic material list.
Each of these pairs define the elastic properties of the drained porous matrix and it is
possible to convert from one set of properties to another.
Drained Density of Porous Material

Select a Drained density of porous material (SI unit: kg/m3). The default selection is
From material. The value of the drained density is then the value defined for the
material that you select in the Porous elastic material list. Select User defined to define
a value or expression for the drained density in the d edit field that appears underneath
the list. The default is 0 kg/m3.
Permeability
Enter a Permeability (SI unit: m2), the default uses values From material as defined by
the Porous elastic material selected. If User defined is selected, choose Isotropic to define
a scalar value or Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic to enter a tensor value. The default
value is 0 m2.
Porosity
The default setting is to use the porosity From material. The value of the porosity is
then defined from the material that you select in the Porous elastic material list. To use
another value or expression, select User defined from the Porosity list and then enter the
porosity in the p edit field that appears underneath the list, which is a dimensionless
number between 0 and 1.
Biot-Willis Coefficient
Enter a Biot-Willis coefficient Ba dimensionless parameter with values between the
porosity p and 1). The default is 0.7.
THE POROELASTICITY INTERFACE | 131

FLUID PROPERTIES
The Fluid material defaults to Domain material but you can choose any other material
that you have added to the model. Typically the Fluid material and the Porous material
are different materials.
Density
The default setting for the fluid Density (SI unit: kg/m3) uses the value From material.
The value of the density is then defined from the fluid that you select in the Fluid
material list. To use another value or expression, select User defined from the Density
list and then enter the density in the edit field that appears underneath the list. The
default is 0 kg/m3.
Dynamic Viscosity
The default setting for the Dynamic viscosity (SI unit: Pas) uses the value From material.
The value of the viscosity is then defined from the fluid that you select in the Fluid
material list. Select User defined to define a value or expression for the viscosity in the
associated edit field for . The default is 0 Pas.
Compressibility of Fluid
Enter a Compressibility of fluid f (SI unit: 1/Pa). The default value is 41010 1/Pa,
which corresponds to an approximate value for water at room temperature.
Initial Values
The Initial Values feature adds an initial value for the pressure, pressure head, hydraulic
head, and displacement field, which can serve as an initial condition for a transient
simulation or as an initial guess for a nonlinear solver.
DOMAINS
INITIAL VALUES
Enter a value or expression for the initial value of the Pressure p (SI unit: Pa), Pressure
head Hp (SI unit: m), Hydraulic head H (SI unit: m), and Displacement field u (SI unit:
m). The defaults are 0.

Theory for the Poroelasticity
Interface
Poroelasticity describes flow diffusion in elastic porous solids. Poroelastic models
typically describe the linked interaction between fluids and deformation in porous
media. For example, the fluids in a reservoir absorb stress, which registers as fluid
pressure or equally hydraulic head.
Background and Theory: Constitutive Relations

Of the two constitutive relations governing poroelastic behavior, one relates stress
(total), strain (unambiguous), and pore pressure:
= C B pI (5-1)
Here, is the Cauchy stress tensor, is the strain tensor, B is the Biot-Willis
coefficient, and p is the fluid pore pressure. The elasticity matrix C must in this
formulation be measured under drained conditions by measuring the strain induced
by a change in stress under constant pore pressure. Splitting the above relation in a
spherical and a deviatoric part, it can be seen that the deviatoric part (shear stresses)
are independent of the pore-pressure coupling. The spherical part can be written as
P = K d ii + B p ,
where P = trace /3 is the total mean pressure (positive in compression), and Kd

is the bulk modulus of the drained material. The trace of the strain tensor (volumetric
strain) ii = vol is a measurement of the dilation of the porous matrix.
In Biot's theory (Ref. 1), the other constitutive relation relates the increment in fluid
content to volumetric strain and incremental pore pressure. The fluid pore pressure
is proportional to the dilation of the porous matrix and the variation of fluid content:
p = M B vol (5-2)
Biot and Willis (Ref. 1) measured the coefficients B and M with the unjacketed
compressibility test, and derived expressions for these coefficients in terms of drained,
solid and fluid bulk moduli (or compressibilities).
THEORY FOR THE POROELASTICITY INTERFACE | 133

The variable M, sometimes called the Biot modulus, is the inverse of the storage
coefficient S. It is defined through Equation 5-2 under constant volumetric strain:
S = ----- =
1
M p ii
Using this definition, it is possible to measure the storage coefficient directly, but at
least in the case of an ideal porous material it can be calculated from basic material
properties as
1 p B p
S = ----- = ------ + ------------------
M Kf Ks
Here, p is the porosity, Kf the fluid bulk modulus (the inverse of its compressibility),
and Ks the solid bulk modulus, that is, the would-be bulk modulus of a homogenous
block of the solid material making up the grains, which is related to the drained bulk
modulus through the Biot-Willis coefficient.
The parameter B is the Biot-Willis coefficient, which relates the volume of fluid
expelled (or sucked into) a porous material element to the volumetric change of the
same element, and it is defined in terms of the drained and solid bulk moduli as
Kd
B = P = 1 -------
p ii Ks
or it can be measured experimentally.
The drained bulk modulus Kd is always smaller than the solid bulk modulus Ks,
therefore Biot-Willis coefficient is always bounded to p B 1
Note that Bdoes not depend on the properties of the fluid, but on the properties of
the porous matrix. A soft porous matrix will have a Biot-Willis coefficient close to 1
(since K d <<K s ), while for a stiff matrix, it will be close to the porosity (since
K d 1 p K s ).
F L U I D F L OW D A R C Y S L A W
Darcys law describes the flow field in the poroelastic model. The fluid equation comes
from Equation 2-20 in the pressure formulation
p
f S + f --- p + f g D = f B ----- vol (5-3)
t t

where volt is the rate of change in volumetric strain from the equations for solid
displacements, f is the fluid density and B is the Biot-Willis coefficient. You can
interpret the right-hand term as the time rate of expansion of the pore space. The
volume fraction available for liquid increases and thereby gives rise to liquid sink, which
is why the sign is reversed in the source term.
SOLIDS DEFORMATION
Naviers equations for a solid in equilibrium under purely gravitational load is
= av g = f p + d g (5-4)
where is the total stress tensor from Equation 5-1 and av, f, and d represent
average, fluid, and drained densities, respectively, and p is the porosity. The
fluid-to-structure coupling therefore enters as an additional isotropic term in the stress
tensor, which, in analogy with general initial stresses, can be identified as an initial
pressure.
Note that Equation 5-4, which describes an equilibrium state, also applies to the case
of a time-dependent flow model. This is a valid assumption because the time scale of
the structural response is generally many orders of magnitude faster than the time scale
of the flow. When you study the coupled process on the time scale of the flow, you can
therefore assume that the solid reaches a new equilibrium immediately in response to
a change in the flow conditions. This means that the stresses and strains change in
timeeven if Equation 5-4 appears to be stationaryand that the structure-to-fluid
coupling term, involving the rate of strain, is nonzero.
REFERENCE FO R THE PO ROELASTICITY INTERFACE

1. Biot, M. A., Mechanics of Deformation and Acoustic Propagation in Porous
Media. J. Appl. Phys., 33, 1482-1498, 1962.
THEORY FOR THE POROELASTICITY INTERFACE | 135

6
Materials
The Material Browser contains libraries with an extensive set of mechanical and
heat transfer properties for solid materials. In addition, it contains a limited set of
fluid properties, which can be used mainly in the physics interfaces for fluid flow
and heat transfer.
In this section:
About the Material Library and Databases

About Using Materials in COMSOL
Working with the Material Browser
Liquids and Gases Material Database
Using Material Properties
137
Material Library and Databases
About the Material Library and Databases
The Earth Science Module includes a material database called Liquids and Gases. The
materials include temperature-dependent fluid dynamic and thermal properties.
Material Browserselect predefined

materials in all applications.
Recent MaterialsSelect from recent
materials added to the model.
Material LibraryPurchased
separately. Select from over 2500
predefined materials.
Built-In databaseAvailable to all

users and contains common materials.
Application specific material databases

Available with specific modules.
User defined material database library.
All COMSOL modules have predefined material data available to build models. The
most extensive material data is contained in the separately purchased Material Library,
but all modules contain commonly used or module-specific materials. For example, the
Built-In database is available to all users but the MEMS database is included with the
Acoustics Module, MEMS Module, and Structural Mechanics Module. You can also
create your own materials and material libraries by researching and entering material
properties yourself.
You access all the material databases (including the Material Library) from the Material
Browser. These databases are briefly described below.
RECENT MATERIALS
From the Recent Materials folder ( ), you can select from a list of recently used
materials, with the most recent at the top. This folder is available after the first time
you add a material to a model.
138 | CHAPTER 6: MATERIALS

MATERIAL LIBRARY
An optional add-on database, the Material Library ( ), contains data for over 2500
materials and 20,000 property functions.
BUILT-IN
Included with COMSOL Multiphysics, the Built-In database ( ) contains common
solid materials with electrical, structural, and thermal properties. See Predefined
Built-In Materials for all COMSOL Modules in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users
Guide for a list (or see Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?).
AC/DC
Included in the AC/DC Module, the AC/DC database ( ) has electric properties for
some magnetic and conductive materials.
LIQUIDS AND GASES

Included in the Acoustics Module, Chemical Reaction Engineering Module, Earth
Science Module, Heat Transfer Module, and MEMS Module, the Liquids and Gases
database ( ) includes transport properties and surface tension data for liquid/gas
and liquid/liquid interfaces.
MEMS
Included in the Acoustics Module, MEMS Module, and Structural Mechanics
Module, the MEMS database ( ) has properties for MEMS materialsmetals,
semiconductors, insulators, and polymers.
PIEZOELECTRIC
Included in the Acoustics Module, MEMS Module, and Structural Mechanics
Module, the Piezoelectric database ( ) has properties for piezoelectric materials.
USER DEFINED LIBRARY

The User Defined Library folder ( ) is where you create user-defined materials
databases (libraries). When you create any new database, this also displays in the
Material Browser. See Creating Your Own User-Defined Libraries in the COMSOL
Library?).
MATERIAL LIBRARY AND DATABASES | 139

Note: All materials databases (including the Material Library) shipped with
COMSOL Multiphysics and the optional modules are read-only.
About Using Materials in COMSOL
USING THE MATERIALS IN THE PHYSICS SETTINGS

The physics set-up in a model is determined by a combination of settings in the
Materials and physics interface pages. When you add the first material to a model,
COMSOL automatically assigns that material to the entire geometry. The power of
COMSOL is that you can select different geometric entities to have different materials.
The following example uses the heat_sink.mph model file contained in the Heat
Transfer Module Model Library.
Figure 6-1: Assigning materials to a heat sink model. Air is assigned as the material to
the box surrounding the heat sink, and aluminum to the heat sink itself.
If a geometry consists of a heat sink in a container, you can assign Air as the material in
the container surrounding the heat sink and Aluminum as the heat sink material itself
(see Figure 6-1). The Conjugate Heat Transfer physics interface, selected during model
set-up, has a Fluid flow model, defined in the box surrounding the heat sink, and a Heat
Transfer model, defined in both the aluminum heat sink and in the air box. The Heat
Transfer in Solids 1 settings use the material properties associated to the Aluminum
3003-H18 materials node, and the Fluid 1 settings define the flow using the Air material

properties. The other nodes under Conjugate Heat Transfer define the initial and
boundary conditions.
All physics interface properties automatically use the correct Materials properties when
you use the default From material setting. This means that you can use one node to
define the physics across several domains with different materials; COMSOL then uses
the material properties from the different materials to define the physics in the
domains. If material properties are missing, the Material Contents section on the
Materials page displays a stop icon ( ) to warn you about the missing properties or
values. See About the Material Page in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or see
Where Do I Access the Documentation and Model Library?).
EVALUATING AND PLOTTING MATERIAL PROPERTIES

You can access the material properties like other variables in a model using the variable
naming conventions and scoping mechanisms. To access a material property in a plot
or evaluation, you need to know the tags for the material and the property group.
Typically, for the first material (Material 1) the tag is mat1 and most properties reside
in the default Basic property group with the tag def. The variable names appear in the
Variable column in the table under Output properties in the Settings window for the
property group; for example, Cp for the heat capacity at constant pressure. The syntax
for the heat capacity at constant pressure is then mod1.def.Cp. Some properties are
anisotropic tensors, and you can then access each of the components, such as
mat1.def.k11, mat1.def.k12, and so on, for the thermal conductivity. For material
properties that are functions, you need to call them with input arguments such as
mat1.def.rho(pA,T) where pA and T are numerical values or variables representing
the absolute pressure and the temperature, respectively. You can also plot the functions
directly from the function nodes Settings window by first specifying suitable ranges for
the input arguments.
Note: For detailed information about all the other materials databases and the
separately purchased Material Library, see the section Materials in the COMSOL
Library?).
MATERIAL LIBRARY AND DATABASES | 141

Working with the Material Browser
Note: When you are using the Material Browser, the words window and page are
interchangeable. For simplicity, the instructions refer only to the Material Browser.
OPENING THE MATERIAL BROWSER

1 Open or create a model file.
2 From the Options menu select Material Browser or right-click the Materials node and
select Open Material Browser.
The Material Browser opens by default to the right of the Settings window.
1 Open the Material Browser.
2 Under Material Selection, search or browse for materials.
- Enter a Search term to find a specific material by name, UNS number (Material
Library materials only), or DIN number (Material Library materials only). If the
search is successful, a list of filtered databases containing that material displays
under Material Selection.
Note: To clear the search field and browse, delete the search term and click Search to
reload all the databases.
- Click to open each database and browse for a specific material by class (for
example, in the Material Library) or physics module (for example, MEMS
Materials).
Note: Always review the material properties to confirm they are applicable for the
model. For example, Air provides temperature-dependent properties that are valid at
pressures around 1 atm.
3 When you locate the material you want, right-click to Add Material to Model.

Liquids and Gases Material Database
The Liquids and Gases materials database contains thermal and fluid dynamic
properties for a set of common liquids. All properties are given as functions of
temperature and at atmospheric pressure, except the density, which for gases is also a
function of the local pressure. The database also contains surface and interface tensions
for a selected set of liquid/gas and liquid/liquid systems. All functions are based on
data collected from scientific publications.
GROUP MATERIAL
Gases Air
References 1, 2, 10, and 11 Nitrogen
Oxygen
Carbon dioxide
Hydrogen
Helium
Steam
Propane
Ethanol vapor
Diethyl ether vapor
Freon12 vapor
SiF4
Liquids Engine oil
References 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, and Ethanol
13
Diethyl ether
Ethylene glycol
Gasoline
Glycerol
Heptane
Mercury
Toluene
Transformer oil
Water
LIQUIDS AND GASES MATERIAL DATABASE | 143

GROUP MATERIAL
Liquid /Gas Surface Tension Acetone/Air

References 5 and 11 Acetic acid/Air
Ethanol/Air
Ethylene glycol/Ethylene glycol vapor
Diethyl ether/Air
Glycerol/Air
Heptane/Nitrogen
Mercury/Mercury vapor
Toluene/Air
Water/Air
Liquid/Liquid Interfacial Tension Benzene/Water
References 3, 4, and 11 Corn oil/Water
Ether/Water
Hexane/Water
Mercury/Water
Olive oil/Water
REFERENCES
1. ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals, American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, 1993.
2. E. R. G. Eckert and M. Drake, Jr., Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer,

Hemisphere Publishing, 1987.
3. Oil Properties Database, http://www.etc-cte.ec.gc.ca/databases/

OilProperties/, ETC (Environmental Technology Centre), Environment Canada.
4. A.G. Gaonkar, Interfacial Tensions of Vegetable Oil/Water Systems: Effect of Oil

Purification, JAOCS, vol. 66, No. 8, pp. 10901092, 1989.
5. J.J. Jasper, The Surface Tension of Pure Liquid Compounds, J. Phys. Chem. Ref.
Data, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 8411009, 1972.
6. H. Kashiwagi, T. Hashimoto, Y. Tanaka, H. Kubota, and T. Makita, Thermal

Conductivity and Density of Toluene in the Temperature Range 273-373K at
Pressures up to 250 MPa, Int. J. Thermophys., vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 201215, 1982.

7. C. A. Nieto de Castro, S.F.Y. Li, A. Nagashima, R.D. Trengove, and W.A.
Wakeham, Standard Reference Data for the Thermal Conductivity of Liquids, J.
Phys. Chem. Ref. Data, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 10731086, 1986.
8. B.E. Poling, J.M. Prausnitz, and J.P. OConnell, The Properties of Gases and
Liquids, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2001.
9. C.F. Spencer and B.A. Adler, A Critical Review of Equations for Predicting
Saturated Liquid Density, J. Chem. Eng. Data, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 8288, 1978.
10. N.B.Vargnaftik, Tables of Thermophysical Properties of Liquids and Gases, 2nd

ed., Hemisphere Publishing, 1975.
11. R.C.Weast (editor), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 69th ed., CRC
Press, 1988.
12. M. Zabransky and V. Ruzicka, Jr., Heat Capacity of Liquid n-Heptane Converted
to the International Temperature Scale of 1990, Phys. Chem. Ref. Data, vol. 23,
no. 1, pp. 5561, 1994.
13. M. Zabransky, V. Ruzicka, Jr., and E.S. Domalski, Heat Capacity of Liquids:
Critical Review and Recommended Values. Supplement I, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data,
vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 11991397, 2002.
Using Material Properties

For detailed instructions, see User-Defined Materials and Libraries and Material
Properties Reference in the COMSOL Multiphysics Users Guide (or see Where Do I
LIQUIDS AND GASES MATERIAL DATABASE | 145

I N D E X
A acceleration, gravity 26 Darcys law interface 25
advection 105 theory 73
anisotropic tensors 141 diffusion coefficients, porous media flow
average linear velocity 76, 84, 105 109
B Babuska-Brezzi theory, single-phase flow dispersion 107
65 dispersion tensor 91, 107, 121122
Bernoullis equation 22 documentation, location 11
Biot-Willis coefficient 133 dynamic viscosity
boundary conditions Darcys law 74
Brinkman equations interface 53 porous media flow 78
Darcys law interface 31 E effective saturation 84

fracture flow interface 47 elastic modulus 130
laminar inflow and outflow 69 elastic properties, specifying 130
periodic 102 elevation 26
pervious layer 36 emailing COMSOL 12
pressure head 33
F fluid flow 14, 20
Richards equation interface 43
Brinkman equations interface 48
solute transport interface 96
Brinkman equations theory 77
Boussinesq approximation 6869
Darcys law interface 25
Brinkman equations interface 48
Darcys law theory 73
theory 77
fracture flow theory 81
Brooks and Corey 85
free and porous media flow interface
built-in materials database 139
54
bulk modulus 131, 133
laminar flow theory 62
C CFL number, pseudo time stepping, and Mach number 6263, 65
66 porous media and subsurface flow 39,
conductivity, hydraulic 28, 30, 41, 46, 74 44
conservative form 110 Richards equation theory 83
contacting COMSOL 12 single-phase theory 60
continuity equation fluid fraction time chance 93
Darcys law 7374 fluid properties 56
porous media flow 77 fluid viscosity 84
single-phase flow 61 flux 17
convective terms 110 flux discontinuity 37, 101
D Darcy velocity 34, 74, 106, 126 Forchheimer drag 52, 58
INDEX| 147
fracture flow 38 M Mach number
fracture flow interface 44 Brinkman equations 49
theory 81 crosswind diffusion stabilization, and
free and porous media flow interface 54 65
theory 80 definition, single-phase flow 6263
freely moving fluids 17 free and porous media flow 55
Freundlich 106 material browser 142
material library 139
G gravity effects 26
materials
H heat equation, porous media 126 databases 139
heat source, porous media 124 liquids and gases 143
heat transfer in porous media interface properties 141
theory 126 mixed formulation 130
hydraulic conductivity 28, 30, 41, 46, 74 model library 11
hydraulic head 33 moments, reference point for computing
hydraulic potential 73 129
hyporheic zone 77 MPH-files 11
I incompressible flow N Navier-Stokes equations 17, 60
free and porous media flow 55 nearly incompressible material 130
single-phase flow 63 Newtonian fluid 18
inflow, laminar 23 non-conservative formulation 110
internet resources 11 non-Newtonian fluids 61
intrinsic permeability 74, 84
O outflow, laminar 24
intrinsic volume averages 77
P periodic boundary conditions 102
K knowledge base, COMSOL 12
permeability 74
L Lam constants 131 intrinsic 84
laminar flow interface relative 84
free and porous media interface, and Poissons ratio 130
54 poroelasticity interface 128
theory 62 theory 133
laminar flow, Reynolds number and 64 porosity 28, 75
laminar inflow 23 porous media and subsurface flow
laminar outflow 24 Brinkman equations interface 48
Langmuir 106 Darcys law interface 25
linearized storage, porous media 30, 42 fracture flow 44
liquids and gases materials 138, 143 free and porous media flow interface
local CFL number 66 54
148 | I N D E X
Richards equation 39 theory, single-phase flow 60
theory, Brinkman equations 77 specific moisture capacity 94
theory, Darcys law 73 storage coefficient 84
theory, fracture flow 81 storage model 29
theory, free and porous media flow 80 strain-rate tensor 60
theory, Richards equation 83 superficial volume average, theory 105
porous media, properties 93 superficial volume averages, theory 77
porous media, variably saturated 83
T technical support, COMSOL 12
pressure-correction method 67
tensors
projection method, for Navier-Stokes
anisotropic 141
equations 67
dispersion 91, 107, 121122
pseudo time stepping theory, sin-
strain-rate 60
gle-phase flow 66
time-scale 64
R relative permeability 84 viscous stress 61
retardation factor 107 theory
retention 84 Brinkman equations 77
Reynolds number Darcys law 73
definition, single-phase flow 63 fracture flow interface 81
Richards equation interface 39 free and porous media flow interface
theory 83 80
laminar flow 62
S saturated porous media 83
Richards equation interface 83
saturation, effective 84
single-phase flow 60
seepage face 36
time-scale tensor 64
semi-pervious layer 36
tortuosity factor 109
shear modulus 131
typographical conventions 12
shear-wave speed 131
shock-capturing operator 65 U user community, COMSOL 12
single-phase flow, laminar flow interface
V van Genuchten 85
62
viscosity, dynamic 74
single-phase flow. laminar flow interface
viscous stress tensor, theory 61
theory 60
volatilization 94
solute transport interface 88
volume averages 77
theory 104
W web sites, COMSOL 12
specific capacity 84
specific discharge vector 74 Y Youngs modulus 130
specific heat capacity
heat transfer in porous media interface
119
INDEX| 149
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Earth Science Module

COMSOL Earth Science Module Users Guide

Protected by U.S. Patents 7,519,518; 7,596,474; and 7,623,991. Patents pending.

Part number: CM020701

Chapter 1: Introduction to the

About the Earth Science Module 10

Modeling with the Earth Science Module 14

Chapter 2: The Fluid Flow Interfaces

The Interfaces for Porous Media and Subsurface Flow 20

The Single-Phase Flow, Laminar Flow Interface 23

The Darcys Law Interface 25

The Richards Equation Interface 39

The Fracture Flow Interface 44

The Brinkman Equations Interface 48

The Free and Porous Media Flow Interface 54

Theory for the Laminar Flow Interface 62

Theory for the Darcys Law Interface 73

Theory for the Brinkman Equations Interface 77

Theory for the Free and Porous Media Flow Interface 80

Theory for the Fracture Flow Interface 81

Theory for the Richards Equation Interface 83

The Solute Transport Interface 88

Theory for the Solute Transport Interface 104

The Mechanisms for Heat Transfer 114

The Heat Transfer in Porous Media Interface 117

Theory for the Heat Transfer in Porous Media Interface 126

The Poroelasticity Interface 128

Theory for the Poroelasticity Interface 133

Material Library and Databases 138

Liquids and Gases Material Database 143

About the Earth Science Module

10 | CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE

A number of Internet resources provide more information about COMSOL

To locate and search all the documentation, in COMSOL, select Help>Documentation

THE MODEL LIBRARY

ABOUT THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE | 11

COMSOL WEB SITES

Worldwide contact information: http://www.comsol.com/contact/

Online technical support main page: http://www.comsol.com/support/

Product updates: http://www.comsol.com/support/updates/

CONT ACT ING COMSOL BY EMAIL

12 | CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE

ABOUT THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE | 13

The Fluid Flow Branch

The Single-Phase Flow, Laminar Flow Interface ( ), using the Navier-Stokes

The Chemical Species Transport Branch

14 | CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE

This physics interface facilitates environmental models of pollutants migrating in an

The Heat Transfer Branch

MODELING WITH THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE | 15

The Structural Mechanics Branch

Where Do I Start with Earth Science Modeling?

Numerical modeling typically begins with a question about some physical

In COMSOL Multiphysics you solve equation-based models of physical processes by

16 | CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE

The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations characterize the flow of freely moving

MODELING WITH THE EARTH SCIENCE MODULE | 17

Earth Science Module Physics Interface Guide

PHYSICS INTERFACE AVAILABILITY BY SPACE DIMENSION

PHYSICS INTERFACE AND LINK ICON TAG 1D 1D AXI 2D 2D AXI 3D

Chemical Species Transport

Fracture Flow esff

Free and Porous Media Flow fp