FEFLOW
Encyclopedia
FEFLOW is a computer program for simulating
groundwater
flow
, mass transfer
and heat transfer
in porous media. The program uses finite element analysis to solve the groundwater flow equation
of both saturated and unsaturated conditions as well as mass and heat transport, including fluid
density
effects and chemical kinetics
for multi-component reaction
systems. The software was firstly introduced by Dr. Hans-Jörg G. Diersch in 1979. He developed the software in the Institute of Mechanics of the German Academy of Sciences Berlin
up to 1990. In 1990 he was one of the founders of WASY GmbH of Berlin
, Germany
(the acronym WASY translates from German to Institute for Water Resources Planning and Systems Research), where FEFLOW has been developed further, continuously improved and extended as a commercial simulation package. In 2007 the shares of WASY GmbH were purchased by DHI Group. The company has since been renamed to DHI-WASY GmbH and FEFLOW became part of the DHI Group software portfolio.
The program is offered in both 32-bit
and 64-bit
versions for Linux
and for Microsoft Windows
operating systems. With version 6.0 in 2010 a newly developed user interface based on the framework Qt has been introduced.
Prior versions and the so-called FEFLOW 6.0 Classic interface are based on the Motif
widget toolkit
, using a proprietary X Window System
, Hummingbird Exceed on Microsoft Windows
operating systems. Support for UNIX
platforms ended with version 5.3; prior support was provided for IRIX
, Tru64
, and Solaris.
Computer simulation
A computer simulation, a computer model, or a computational model is a computer program, or network of computers, that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system...
groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
flow
Fluid dynamics
In physics, fluid dynamics is a sub-discipline of fluid mechanics that deals with fluid flow—the natural science of fluids in motion. It has several subdisciplines itself, including aerodynamics and hydrodynamics...
, mass transfer
Mass transfer
Mass transfer is the net movement of mass from one location, usually meaning a stream, phase, fraction or component, to another. Mass transfer occurs in many processes, such as absorption, evaporation, adsorption, drying, precipitation, membrane filtration, and distillation. Mass transfer is used...
and heat transfer
Heat transfer
Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the exchange of thermal energy from one physical system to another. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as heat conduction, convection, thermal radiation, and phase-change transfer...
in porous media. The program uses finite element analysis to solve the groundwater flow equation
Groundwater flow equation
Used in hydrogeology, the groundwater flow equation is the mathematical relationship which is used to describe the flow of groundwater through an aquifer. The transient flow of groundwater is described by a form of the diffusion equation, similar to that used in heat transfer to describe the flow...
of both saturated and unsaturated conditions as well as mass and heat transport, including fluid
Fluid
In physics, a fluid is a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. Fluids are a subset of the phases of matter and include liquids, gases, plasmas and, to some extent, plastic solids....
density
Density
The mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...
effects and chemical kinetics
Chemical kinetics
Chemical kinetics, also known as reaction kinetics, is the study of rates of chemical processes. Chemical kinetics includes investigations of how different experimental conditions can influence the speed of a chemical reaction and yield information about the reaction's mechanism and transition...
for multi-component reaction
Multi-component reaction
In chemistry, a multi-component reaction , sometimes referred to as a "Multi-component Assembly Process" , is a chemical reaction where three or more compounds react to form a single product...
systems. The software was firstly introduced by Dr. Hans-Jörg G. Diersch in 1979. He developed the software in the Institute of Mechanics of the German Academy of Sciences Berlin
German Academy of Sciences Berlin
The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin , later renamed Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic was the most important research institution of East Germany.The academy was founded in 1946 by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany to continue the long tradition of the...
up to 1990. In 1990 he was one of the founders of WASY GmbH of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(the acronym WASY translates from German to Institute for Water Resources Planning and Systems Research), where FEFLOW has been developed further, continuously improved and extended as a commercial simulation package. In 2007 the shares of WASY GmbH were purchased by DHI Group. The company has since been renamed to DHI-WASY GmbH and FEFLOW became part of the DHI Group software portfolio.
The program is offered in both 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
and 64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
versions for Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating systems. With version 6.0 in 2010 a newly developed user interface based on the framework Qt has been introduced.
Prior versions and the so-called FEFLOW 6.0 Classic interface are based on the Motif
Motif (widget toolkit)
In computing, Motif refers to both a graphical user interface specification and the widget toolkit for building applications that follow that specification under the X Window System on Unix and other POSIX-compliant systems. It emerged in the 1980s as Unix workstations were on the rise, as a...
widget toolkit
Widget toolkit
In computing, a widget toolkit, widget library, or GUI toolkit is a set of widgets for use in designing applications with graphical user interfaces...
, using a proprietary X Window System
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
, Hummingbird Exceed on Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating systems. Support for UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
platforms ended with version 5.3; prior support was provided for IRIX
IRIX
IRIX is a computer operating system developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. to run natively on their 32- and 64-bit MIPS architecture workstations and servers. It was based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. IRIX was the first operating system to include the XFS file system.The last major version...
, Tru64
Tru64 UNIX
Tru64 UNIX is a 64-bit UNIX operating system for the Alpha instruction set architecture , currently owned by Hewlett-Packard . Previously, Tru64 UNIX was a product of Compaq, and before that, Digital Equipment Corporation , where it was known as Digital UNIX .As its original name suggests, Tru64...
, and Solaris.
Other commonly used groundwater models
- MODFLOWMODFLOWMODFLOW is the U.S. Geological Survey modular finite-difference flow model, which is a computer code that solves the groundwater flow equation. The program is used by hydrogeologists to simulate the flow of groundwater through aquifers...
- HydroGeoSphereHydroGeoSphereHydroGeoSphere is a 3D control-volume finite element groundwater model, simulating surface and subsurface water flow and solute and thermal energy transport...
- HYDRUSHydrusHydrus is a small constellation in the southern sky, created in the sixteenth century. Its name means "male water snake", and it should not be confused with Hydra, a much larger constellation which represents a female water snake.-History:...
- PORFLOW